Science Forensic

Forensic science is a fundamental element of the criminal justice system. Forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes and elsewhere to develop findings that can aid in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators or absolve an innocent person of suspicion.

Common forensic science laboratory disciplines include forensic molecular biology (DNA), forensic chemistry, examination of evidence traces (hairs and fibers, paints and polymers, glass, dirt, etc.), latent fingerprint examination, weapons examination fire and tool markings, handwriting analysis, fire and explosives examinations, forensic toxicology and digital evidence. Some forensic disciplines practiced outside of forensic laboratories include forensic pathology, forensic nursing, forensic psychiatry, forensic entomology, and forensic engineering. Professionals in these disciplines are most often found in forensic or forensic medical offices, universities, or private practices.

The Department of Justice maintains forensic laboratories at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Department, through the National Institute of Justice, sponsors cutting-edge research. Its laboratories serve as a model for government forensic agencies at the federal, state and local levels. The Department strives to set the global standard for excellence in forensic science and to promote the practice and use of forensic science by the wider community.

PRIORITIES

1.Facilitate forensic science coordination and collaboration within the Department, throughout the federal government, and with state, local, and tribal entities.

2.Increase the capacity of forensic service providers so that evidence can be processed quickly and investigations can be concluded without delay.

3.Improve the reliability of forensic analysis to allow examiners to report results with greater specificity and certainty.

Education and formation

A bachelor's degree in forensic science or physics, biology, or chemistry is the minimum starting point for success in the field. To further advance in the field, you will need a master's degree or a doctorate in one of those fields.

Because forensic scientists work with law enforcement, college degrees in criminal justice or criminology are also a good starting point for a career. Any combination of major and minor in a field of science along with another major or minor in a criminal justice area is beneficial. However, graduate studies must focus on a relevant area of ​​forensic science.

Experience

The best candidates in this competitive field are those who already have experience, so you should create a resume that includes internships, volunteer work, and an academic background that shows that you are well qualified for the job you want.

New forensic scientists often work as apprentices with experienced scientists. They can work as laboratory technicians or research assistants, learning more about the job and how best to apply the knowledge acquired in school. Laboratory experience and investigative experience need not be specific to forensic science, but you must be able to demonstrate that you have experience in that environment.

Get acquainted with the various scholarships and organizations that support forensic scientists and stay up-to-date on trends in the field. Read forensic scientific journals and stay on top of the issues that are plaguing the field today.

Do not miss the opportunity to learn and train often since this science is constantly growing thanks to new technologies

Criminology

 Criminology. So controversial, so loved and criticized, so undervalued and overrated ... Yes, criminology is one of the most confused sciences today, and it is all thanks to the little that is known about its object of study.

Almost always, somewhere, it is pointed out that criminology has functions similar to those of criminalistics, online we can find numerous examples, many of them give me a headache.

Let's start.

Criminology has as its main object of study antisocial behavior, that is, it is the basis of the entire criminological structure and from where secondary objects of study can start, such as crime, criminality and criminal (others delimit it more to crime , delinquency and delinquent, although for criminology it is more crime ...), social control, the victim, among others.

Antisocial behavior is one that is committed by one human being or group of human beings, against another or others, physically or psychologically damaging it, or, in a nutshell, the actual damage that occurs against others (there is also the idea of that damage against the environment and living beings can be considered as such, but a consensus among the experts has not yet been reached).

That study is eminently interdisciplinary. The knowledge and skills of other sciences come together to be able to carry out a study as objective as possible, a study that can remain certain and not uncertain, to explain why certain phenomena, and if possible, prevent them (which is the objective of criminological science).

Some people tend to point out that the object of study of criminology is crime, offender and delinquency, but it is something that should not be totally accepted. Clearly, the majority of antisocial behaviors are typified within a criminal legal order, but we can also find throughout history typified behaviors that are not antisocial, and that even, in past times, are contrary to Human Rights (subject for another post). Also, this object is very limiting for criminology, enclosing it only in what the law indicates, making it a science dependent on it, and not autonomous. If you follow the path in which this name is what criminology studies, it will be difficult to have a noticeable advance or important results for prevention. What is good is that this object is considered as one more level of "intervention" of criminology, but not the only one.

However, crime, criminal and criminal are other objects of study that are not necessarily coupled with what a criminal legal order says (although yes, a crime may or may not be a crime, but not all crimes are crimes, such as in the case of the previous paragraph). Crime is more directed to the moral and immoral acts that can be carried out, which produce mainly cultural affectations, but, we can have antisocial behaviors that, within a culture, are not taken as criminals, for simple traditional or customary reasons, but in reality, they do harm. A clear example is the mutilation of the female clitoris that was carried out in a region of Egypt, which was allowed, even under the victim's refusal. (Some point out that the same fact can be seen for the crime).

Another controversial object of study of criminology is the victim, although, I suspect, it will be left out, thanks to the impulse that Victimology is taking, which is the science that studies the victim, from a more specialized perspective, and this fact is applauded. .

Criminology studies the act of causing harm to another human being (or to the environment), under the cultural and social conditions that are, and, in short, of violence, and once certainty has been achieved, try to prevent and diminish it.

No. The criminologist is not a criminalist (although they may have a relationship, but they are not deterministic, due to their very different objects of study). It is time to begin to question more seriously the way in which these sciences are being taught academically in Mexico, separating one thing from the other, and that criminology be given the seriousness that it lacks so much, and diminish the crisis in the which is, and to promote research, which is extremely scarce.