According to Perdue University, West Lafayette Indiana, individuals who view crime and forensic dramas on television are more likely then non-viewers to have a distorted perception of the U.S. criminal justice system and a Tampa criminal attorney agrees with their findings.

Some of the most popular television programs viewed today are ‘The Closer,’ ‘Law and Order,’ ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,’ and ‘Cold Case’ so it is important that lawyers understand how these programs might influence every day people.

People, who watch these types of criminal dramas are more likely to overestimate the frequency of serious crimes, misperceive important facts about a crime and misjudge the number of workers in the judicial system.

According to several statistics, and Tampa criminal attorneys, a survey was conducted with jury-eligible adults about their crime-television-show viewing habits and their perceptions of the judicial system and crime in general. A countless number of people who die as a result of being murdered on these types of programs and the study found that heavy television-crime viewers would estimate two and a half times more real-world deaths due to murder then non-viewers of these types of programs.

Heavy TV crime drama viewers also miscalculated the number of lawyers and law enforcement officers in the workforce although those surveyed estimated the numbers to be more than 18 percent and 16 percent in that  order.

As said by a Tampa criminal lawyer, significant TV crime drama viewing can shape a person’s opinion about the world in general.  It can also lead to ‘mean world syndrome’ in which individuals begin to believe that the world is a scary place.  Some people develop a fear of victimization and this could affect their feeling of security and comfort.

Beliefs and attitudes formed by continuous viewing of crime show dramas translate to actual proceedings in courtrooms.  In law enforcement, conventional wisdom suggests that individuals tend to be acquitted by juries when there is not much physical evidence and are convicted more in trials that do have the evidence needed for convictions.  The reality is that few crimes will have hard, scientific evidence such as gunshot residue, DNA or ballistics.  The jury screening process in some states allow questions regarding an individual’s TV viewing habits.