Ethics in Forensic Science

* ''Downs, a medical examiner and consultant, and Swienton, a forensic attorney and consultant, provide forensic and criminal justice practitioners, crime scene investigators and photographers, law enforcement training centers, police academies and local agencies, and forensic consultants and scientists with a guide to ethics in forensic science. It contains 17 chapters by forensic science, law, and other specialists from the US who discuss the history of ethics, provide brief synopses of major theorists, and address topics like the religious perspective of applied ethics in forensics; general ethical dilemmas; codes of ethics in forensic science societies and other organizations (education, business, religion, medicine, etc.); the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner model; teaching ethics; criminal investigation, crime lab and crime scene, and judicial ethics; the post-conviction process; whistleblowers; and ethics in law enforcement, for child abuse prosecutors and defense attorneys, in testimony of forensic practitioners, and in media.''--**Reference and Research Book News, Inc.** ''This book attempts to answer the question: ''When is ethical, ethical, and when is it not?'' Its contributors write on topics such as general forensic ethical dilemmas; codes of ethics as spelled out by forensic science societies; ethics in SANE practice; how to teach ethics; ethics in law enforcement, criminal investigations, crime laboratories, and crime scene investigations; and ethics for attorneys, prosecutors, and expert witnesses.''--**Evidence Technology Magazine, July-August 2012, page 4** Content: Front-matter , Pages i,iii Copyright , Page iv List of Contributors , Pages vii-viii , Joseph P. Bono, Robin T. Bowen, Rachelle L. Carnesale, Susan Chasson, J.C. Upshaw Downs, Jennifer L.P. Downs, Barry A.J. Fisher, Max M. Houck, Linda E. Ledray, James Markey, Kenneth E. Melson, Haskell M. Pitluck, Andrea Roth, Jay A. Siegel, Fred E. Stephens, Anjali Ranadive Swienton, Sister Elena Thompson, Fr. William Willoughby III Acknowledgments , Pages ix-x , Anjali Ranadive Swienton, J.C. Upshaw Downs Introduction , Pages xi-xiii Chapter 1 - A Brief History of Ethics , Pages 1-25 , Jennifer Downs Chapter 2 - The Forensic Practitioner’s Quest for Truth , Pages 27-57 , Fr. William Willoughby III, Sister Elena Thompson, J.C. Upshaw Downs Chapter 3 - General Forensic Ethical Dilemmas , Pages 59-79 , Jay A. Siegel Chapter 4 - Codes of Ethics in Forensic Science Societies: The Organizational Parameters of Morality and Conduct , Pages 81-135 , Kenneth E. Melson Chapter 5 - Ethical Foundations for SANE Practice , Pages 137-154 , Linda E. Ledray, Susan Chasson Chapter 6 - Ethics Codes in Other Organizations: Structures and Enforcement , Pages 155-199 , J.C. Upshaw Downs, Anjali Ranadive Swienton Chapter 7 - Teaching Ethics , Pages 201-213 , Max M. Houck, Robin T. Bowen Chapter 8 - Ethics in Law Enforcement: Defining the Thin Blue Line , Pages 215-254 , Fred E. Stephens, J.C. Upshaw Downs Chapter 9 - Criminal Investigational Ethics , Pages 255-279 , James Markey Chapter 10 - Ethics in the Crime Laboratory and in Crime Scene Investigations , Pages 281-291 , Barry A.J. Fisher Chapter 11 - Ethics for Child Abuse Prosecutors: A Call to Leadership , Pages 293-311 , Rachelle L. Carnesale Chapter 12 - Ethical Duties of Attorneys and Experts in Cases Involving Forensic Evidence, from the Perspective of the Defense , Pages 313-342 , Andrea Roth Chapter 13 - Ethics in Testimony , Pages 343-376 , Joseph P. Bono, Anjali Ranadive Swienton, J.C. Upshaw Downs Chapter 14 - Judicial Ethics , Pages 377-385 , Haskell M. Pitluck Chapter 15 - The Post-Conviction Process – From the Perspective of the Convicted , Pages 387-398 , Anjali Ranadive Swienton, J.C. Upshaw Downs Chapter 16 - Whistleblowers , Pages 399-424 , J.C. Upshaw Downs Chapter 17 - Ethics in Media , Pages 425-440 , Anjali Ranadive Swienton, J.C. Upshaw Downs Index , Pages 441-454 ''Downs, a medical examiner and consultant, and Swienton, a forensic attorney and consultant, provide forensic and criminal justice practitioners, crime scene investigators and photographers, law enforcement training centers, police academies and local agencies, and forensic consultants and scientists with a guide to ethics in forensic science. It contains 17 chapters by forensic science, law, and other specialists from the US who discuss the history of ethics, provide brief synopses of major theorists, and address topics like the religious perspective of applied ethics in forensics; general ethical dilemmas; codes of ethics in forensic science societies and other organizations (education, business, religion, medicine, etc.); the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner model; teaching ethics; criminal investigation, crime lab and crime scene, and judicial ethics; the post-conviction process; whistleblowers; and ethics in law enforcement, for child abuse prosecutors and defense attorneys, in testimony of forensic practitioners, and in media.''-- Reference and Research Book News, Inc. ''This book attempts to answer the question: ''When is ethical, ethical, and when is it not?'' Its contributors write on topics such as general forensic ethical dilemmas; codes of ethics as spelled out by forensic science societies; ethics in SANE practice; how to teach ethics; ethics in law enforcement, criminal investigations, crime laboratories, and crime scene investigations; and ethics for attorneys, prosecutors, and expert witnesses.''-- Evidence Technology Magazine, July-August 2012, page 4

This work will draw upon the expertise of the editors as authors and various contributors in order to present several different perspectives with the goal of approaching and understanding when ethical lines are crossed. In order to achieve this goal, comparisons of various canons of ethics from related fields such as medicine, law, the military, science and politics will be examined and applied. Case studies will be presented throughout to illustrate ethical dilemmas and challenge the reader with the goal of greater understanding.

* First book to comprehensively address ethics in forensics beyond the laboratory
* Real-life cases presented involving unethical behavior to illustrate concepts
* Discusses ethical considerations while delineating opinion from fact in testimony
* Places forensic ethics within the canons of the legal and medical systems The word "ethical" can be defined as proper conduct. A failure of forensic scientists to act ethically can result in serious adverse outcomes. However, while seemingly simple to define, the application of being "ethical" is somewhat more obscure. That is, when is ethical, ethical, and when is it not? Because we have an adversarial legal system, differences of opinion exist in forensic science. However, there are instances when differences are so divergent that an individual's ethics are called into question. In light of not only the O.J. Simpson trial - the first national trial to question the ethical behavior of forensic scientists - and the National Academy of Science critique of forensic science, ethical issues have come to the forefront of concern within the forensic community Comprehensively addresses ethics in forensics beyond the laboratory. This title presents case studies to illustrate ethical dilemmas. It places forensic ethics within the canons of the legal and medical systems.