Thanks to Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and CSI: Las Vegas series, everybody knows what forensic science is. This methodology is also known as forensics and is the utilization of scientific experiments to help criminal as well as legal investigations. The very word “forensic” itself is derived from the word “forensis” which means “of or before the forum”. Back in Roman times, the accused and the accuser would stand before the forum and debate their own point of view, and the person with the winning argument would also win the case.
Upon completing your studies in forensic science, you can then work as a crime scene examiner in which you visit crime scene areas. Be guaranteed however that this is not your routine nine-to-five desk job as there is no hard and fast rule of how one can go about collecting evidence. As crimes vary from the simple to the incomprehensible, you will need more than a strong stomach and great instinct. Remember, criminals are getting wiser with each passing day, and justice should always be one step ahead of them. You will also need strong deduction abilities and a mind open enough to develop new methods of gathering proof based on science and modern technology.
One will also be required to have great qualifications with a bachelor’s degree in either criminal justice degree majoring in natural science or vice versa. Two other interesting studies relating to forensic science would be criminal profiling as well as forensic archeology. Needless to say, you will definitely have a lot of fun completing your coursework as you collect finger prints, DNA samples, write toxicology reports and run microscopic experiments.
As forensics is a pretty niche subject, some may be worrying about their job prospects. After all, how many crime scene investigators does the justice department need, right? Statistically, one’s odds are quite good as upon completion of your course, sixty to seventy percent of the students go into field work whereas five percent carry on to higher learning whereas the rest of the students opt for another career.
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