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PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p663-664

2026-09-12

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PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

The profession of being a scientist carries with it a number of possible ethical issues. This is also true for forensic scientists, who are first and foremost, scientists. The first of these considerations is the need to stay current scientific knowledge and research. The hallmark of science is that it is always changing. What was true 10 years ago may not be true today; new methods and instrumentation appear constantly. It is incumbent upon laboratory forensic scientists to keep up with changes in their field of expertise and to make sure that the methods they use for the analysis of evidence represent best practices. Using outmoded practices runs the risks of results that can be refuted or proven to be the detriment of the justice system. In drug analysis, for example, there is a continuous stream of new illicit drugs showing up such as syn thetic cannabinoids and steroids. In DNA typing, new methods for determination of mixtures, next-generation sequencing, familial relations, and myriad other new practices are altering the landscape of identification.

How do forensic scientists prove that they are competent to perform evidence analysis within their expertise? This is, after all, an important way to demonstrate to a court that they are worthy of consideration as expert witnesses. In the United States, there is no universal mandatory requirement for either certification or accreditation. Although about 90% of the public forensic science laboratories are accredited, the process is voluntary. Likewise, no mandatory requirement exists for forensic scientists to be certified, although there are voluntary programs set up for various forensic science disciplines. The issue of mandatory certification raises many questions, such as acceptance of certifying bodies, who pays for the certifications (which travel with the employee), and what to do about disciplines with no certifications.