"The findings of forensic science--from DNA profiles and chemical identifications of illegal drugs to comparisons of bullets, fingerprints, and shoeprints--are widely used in police investigations and courtroom proceedings. While we recognize the significance of this evidence for criminal justice, the actual work of forensic scientists is rarely examined and largely misunderstood. Blood, Powder, and Residue goes inside a metropolitan crime laboratory to shed light on the complex social forces that underlie the analysis of forensic evidence. Drawing on eighteen months of rigorous fieldwork in a crime lab of a major metro area, Beth Bechky tells the stories of the forensic scientists who struggle to deliver unbiased science while under intense pressure from adversarial lawyers, escalating standards of evidence, and critical public scrutiny. Bechky brings to life the daily challenges these scientists face, from the painstaking screening and testing of evidence to making communal decisions about writing up the lab report, all while worrying about attorneys asking them uninformed questions in court. She shows how the work of forensic scientists is fraught with the tensions of serving justice--constantly having to anticipate the expectations of the world of law and the assumptions of the public--while also staying true to their scientific ideals."--Inside jacket cover.

• Cover
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: Welcome to the Crime Lab
• Part 1: The Work of Criminalists
  • Chapter 1. Forensic Scientists at the Lab Bench: Taming, Questioning, and Framing the Evidence
  • Chapter 2. The Social Worlds of Forensic Science: Science, Criminal Justice, and the Public Sphere
• Part 2: The Culture of Criminalists
  • Chapter 3. A Culture of Anticipation: The Consequences of Conflicting Expectations
  • Chapter 4. Creating a Culture of Anticipation in the Crime Laboratory
• Part 3: The Struggles of Criminalists
  • Chapter 5. The Specter of Testifying: Forensic Scientists as the Voice of the Evidence
  • Chapter 6. DNA Envy: Responding to Shifting Scientific and Legal Standards
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Case Notes on an Ethnography of a Crime Laboratory
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• References
• Index