£650k forensic science psychology project launched this month

‘Trust in forensic science evidence in the criminal justice system: The experience of marginalised groups’, a £650k psychology project led by the OU’s Lara Frumkin, launched on 1 March after winning major funding last year. The project will explore the experiences of people, particularly from more marginalised groups, when looking at DNA and digital evidence.

As Lara explains: “Forensic science was originally seen as a ground-breaking tool for aiding the investigation of crime, though it is now experiencing a crisis of credibility... trust and confidence in forensic science evidence is under threat. This project will establish levels of trust in forensic science evidence amongst both marginalised communities and comparison user groups to mitigate mistrust.”

Over the next year, the project will gain much-needed insight into public understanding of forensic evidence, from crime scene to courtroom and where distrust enters in. The result of the project will be the development of a tool to mitigate this distrust. 

Read the full story