Forensic Anthropology (eBook)

Current Methods and Practice

Eric J. Bartelink, Angi M. Christensen, Nicholas V. Passalacqua (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2013 | 1. Auflage
464 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-12-417290-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Forensic Anthropology:ÿ Current Methods and Practice-winner of a 2015 Textbook Excellence Award (Texty) from The Text and Academic Authors Association-approaches forensic anthropology through an innovative style using current practices and real case studies drawn from the varied experiences, backgrounds, and practices of working forensic anthropologists.ÿThis text guides the reader through all aspects of human remains recovery and forensic anthropological analysis, presenting principles at a level that is appropriate for those new to the field, while at the same time incorporating evolutionary, biomechanical, and other theoretical foundations for the features and phenomena encountered in forensic anthropological casework.ÿ Attention is focused primarily on the most recent and scientifically valid applications commonly employed by working forensic anthropologists. Readers will therefore learn about innovative techniques in the discipline, and aspiring practitioners will be prepared by understanding the necessary background needed to work in the field today.ÿ Instructors and students will find Forensic Anthropology:ÿCurrent Methods and Practice comprehensive, practical, and relevant to the modern discipline of forensic anthropology. - Winner of a 2015 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association - Focuses on modern methods, recent advances in research and technology, and current challenges in the science of forensic anthropology - Addresses issues of international relevance such as the role of forensic anthropology in mass disaster response and human rights investigations - Includes chapter summaries, topicoriented case studies, keywords, and reflective questions to increase active student learning

Dr. Christensen received her BA in Anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA (1997), and her MA and PhD in Anthropology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN (2000 and 2003). Since 2004, she has worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. She was board certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 2012 and is also an Adjunct Professor in the Forensic Science Program at George Mason University.Angi is a co-author of the award-winning textbook Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice, as well as a co-founder and Editor of the journal Forensic Anthropology. Her research interests include methods of personal identification, trauma analysis, elemental analysis, and skeletal imaging. She has published articles in Journal of Forensic Sciences, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Forensic Radiology and Imaging, Forensic Science International, Journal of Forensic Identification, Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Science Medicine & Pathology, and Journal of Anatomy.

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Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice-winner of a 2015 Textbook Excellence Award (Texty) from The Text and Academic Authors Association-approaches forensic anthropology through an innovative style using current practices and real case studies drawn from the varied experiences, backgrounds, and practices of working forensic anthropologists. This text guides the reader through all aspects of human remains recovery and forensic anthropological analysis, presenting principles at a level that is appropriate for those new to the field, while at the same time incorporating evolutionary, biomechanical, and other theoretical foundations for the features and phenomena encountered in forensic anthropological casework. Attention is focused primarily on the most recent and scientifically valid applications commonly employed by working forensic anthropologists. Readers will therefore learn about innovative techniques in the discipline, and aspiring practitioners will be prepared by understanding the necessary background needed to work in the field today. Instructors and students will find Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice comprehensive, practical, and relevant to the modern discipline of forensic anthropology. - Winner of a 2015 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association- Focuses on modern methods, recent advances in research and technology, and current challenges in the science of forensic anthropology- Addresses issues of international relevance such as the role of forensic anthropology in mass disaster response and human rights investigations- Includes chapter summaries, topicoriented case studies, keywords, and reflective questions to increase active student learning

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

A human skeleton is discovered by hikers in the woods. A body that is burned beyond recognition is delivered to the morgue. Fractures found on the bones of an accident victim are inconsistent with witness accounts of the event. An airline disaster has resulted in the fragmentation and dispersion of numerous body parts. Victims of a war crime are discovered in a clandestine grave. These diverse and challenging cases all have something in common: they are all within the purview of forensic anthropology. This chapter introduces the field of forensic anthropology, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of working forensic anthropologists today.

Keywords

forensic anthropology; anthropological method; legal; medicolegal; sex; ancestry; age; stature; skeletal material; biological profile

A human skeleton is discovered by hikers in the woods. A body that is burned beyond recognition is delivered to the morgue. Fractures found on the bones of an accident victim are inconsistent with witness accounts of the event. An airline disaster has resulted in the fragmentation and dispersion of numerous body parts. Victims of a war crime are discovered in a clandestine grave. These diverse and challenging cases all have something in common: they are all within the purview of forensic anthropology. This chapter introduces the field of forensic anthropology, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of working forensic anthropologists today.

1.1 Forensic anthropology

Anthropology is a broad field, defined as the study of humankind (from the Greek anthropos “man” and logia “study”). Anthropology is generally considered to consist of four primary subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and physical anthropology. Cultural (also referred to as socio-cultural or social) anthropology is the study of human cultural variation, including aspects of social organization, subsistence practices, economics, politics, conflict, technology, and religion, among others. Linguistic anthropology is the study of human communication, including differences across time and space, and how language systems affect human culture and behavior. Archaeology is the study of past human cultures through the materials left behind. Material culture can include artifacts (e.g., tools), ecofacts (e.g., skeletal remains, food refuse), and features (e.g., remains of buildings and other structures). Archaeologists often use cultural and evolutionary theories to test hypotheses against the archaeological record.

Physical (or biological) anthropology is the study of the evolution and diversity of primates, especially the human lineage. This is accomplished through the study of comparative anatomy, and the study of human and non-human primate variation (e.g., morphology and genetics) and behavior. Many physical anthropologists focus specifically on skeletal biology, or the study of the anatomy and biology of the skeleton (which includes the bones and teeth). Skeletal biologists often specialize in broad areas such as functional morphology, bioarchaeology, paleopathology, and forensic anthropology.

Forensic anthropology is considered to be an applied subfield of physical anthropology and can be defined as the application of anthropological method and theory to matters of legal concern, particularly those that relate to the recovery and analysis of the skeleton. The practice of forensic anthropology often involves estimating the sex, ancestry, age, and stature from skeletal material from unknown individuals. This summary of estimated biological parameters is referred to as the biological profile, which is compared to missing persons records in an attempt to identify the person to whom the skeletal remains belong. Forensic anthropologists also specialize in the search for and recovery of human remains, the analysis of skeletal trauma and other alterations which may be relevant to the individual’s cause and manner of death, and the facilitation of personal identification through the recognition of traits and features that may be associated with a particular individual.

1.2 History of forensic anthropology

Forensic anthropology is still considered to be a relatively young scientific discipline, with four temporal eras that are generally recognized to mark certain periods of development (Stewart, 1979; Thompson, 1982; Sledzik et al., 2007). Prior to the 1940s, the practice of forensic anthropology was limited to anatomists, physicians, and some physical anthropologists who worked primarily as university professors or museum curators and occasionally consulted on skeletonized remains cases for law enforcement. During this formative period, there was no formal instruction in forensic applications of physical anthropology and little published research. With regard to medicolegal applications of the discipline, practitioners were either informally trained or self-taught, and played only a limited role in cases of medicolegal significance. It was during this time that Thomas Dwight (1843–1911), a Harvard anatomy professor, became the first to extensively publish works on topics that would become the foundation of forensic anthropology, including methods of estimating sex, age, and stature from the skeleton. His award-winning essay, The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study (1878), along with many other publications related to human anatomy and forensic anthropology, helped earn Thomas Dwight the title of “Father of Forensic Anthropology in the United States.”

From the 1940s to the early 1970s, attention from medicolegal and military agencies increased, with recognition of the utility of forensic anthropology in the identification of deceased service members from WWII and the Korean War. Important anthropological events of this time included two works by Wilton Marion Krogman (1903–1987): Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material (1939) and The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine (1962). This period also saw an increase in development of forensic anthropological methods based on the skeletal remains of deceased soldiers. Many of these early studies form the basis of methods still in use today.

From the 1970s to 1990s, the field became increasingly professionalized, particularly with the establishment of the Physical Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 (see Box 1.1), and the creation of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 1977 (see Box 1.2). Another significant work, Essentials of Forensic Anthropology (1979) by T. Dale Stewart (1901–1997), was one of a growing number of publications in the field. There was also a significant increase in research, employment, acceptance by the forensic community, and establishment of graduate programs that specialize in forensic anthropology.

BOX 1.1

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

Founded in 1948, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is a professional society dedicated to the application of science to the law, the promotion of education, and the elevation of accuracy, precision and specificity in the forensic sciences (American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2012). As of the time of this writing, the AAFS membership includes more than 6000 members representing all 50 United States and more than 60 other countries worldwide. Members are divided into eleven sections representing the scientific disciplines of Criminalistics, Digital and Multimedia Sciences, Engineering Sciences, General, Jurisprudence, Odontology, Pathology/Biology, Physical Anthropology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Questioned Documents, and Toxicology. The AAFS holds annual meetings each February and has its own internationally recognized journal, The Journal of Forensic Sciences.

The Physical Anthropology section was added to the AAFS membership in 1972, when interest among physical anthropologists was sufficient to meet the minimum membership requirements. More information about AAFS including membership can be found at www.aafs.org.

BOX 1.2

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

The American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) was incorporated in 1977 as a non-profit organization to provide a program of certification in forensic anthropology, recognizing certified Diplomates for their qualifications and for meeting standards set forth by the ABFA (American Board of Forensic Anthropology, 2012). As of the time of this writing, 99 forensic anthropologists have been board certified, with approximately 70 being currently active. More information about the ABFA including certification requirements can be found at www.theabfa.org.

1.3 Forensic anthropology today

Today, forensic anthropology is a well-established forensic discipline that has experienced a recent and significant expansion in attention and breadth, facilitated in large part by increased public, media, and professional interest (see Box 1.3). There has been an enormous increase in research and publications in the field, coupled with the development of numerous graduate programs with curricula...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.12.2013
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Studium ► 2. Studienabschnitt (Klinik) ► Rechtsmedizin
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Strafrecht ► Kriminologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• ISBN-10: 0-12-417290-3 / 0124172903
• ISBN-13: 978-0-12-417290-6 / 9780124172906