Role and Impact of Forensic Anthropology on Death Investigations - Research Paper Example

?Role and Impact of Forensic Anthropology on Death Investigations Introduction The word “anthropology” is a derivative of the Greek word anthropos (i.e. ‘human being’), and logos (i.e., ‘speech’ or ‘talk about’). Anthropology as an academic discipline refers to the study of humanity, and its origins are traceable to the combination of natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Anthropology has several subfields, including archaeology, cultural and linguistic anthropology, and physical (biological) anthropology. Forensic anthropology is a specialisation in physical anthropology, together with genetics, primatology, human osteology, and other disciplines of inquiry (Adebisi, 2009). Forensic anthropology applies the techniques and methodology of skeletal biology and osteology to forensic (i.e., legal) cases. One such set of techniques used is “anthropometry,” which aims at the quantitative assessment of gender, age, ancestry, and stature, as well as the analysis of trauma and disease. When such analytical techniques are applied to modern remains the identity of which is unknown, for the purpose of establishing the identity of the person and the manner and circumstances of death, then the exercise pertains to the forensic application of onteology, e.g., the study of skeletons for the purpose of establishing a ground for legal action. (Adebisi, 2009). This study shall seek to provide an assessment of the role and impact of forensic anthropology in death investigations. An overview of recent developments in this field and new theories garnered from academic journals is given, leading to a generalisation of the importance of the field in resolving cases of deaths where the identity of the deceased is unknown. Contemporary developments of forensic anthropology Forensic anthropology is not needed in all cases of post-mortem analysis. It is mostly applicable where the unidentified deceased has been unearthed in an archaeological investigation, when it is an advanced state of decomposition, skeletonized, or burned. They also analyze the plants, insects, footprints, and other incidentals that may be present in the burial site which could provide additional clues to the identity of the deceased or the circumstances of death (Adebisi, 2009). There are occasions when anthropologists would be instrumental in positively identifying the person whose remains had been discovered, but in most cases their work involve gathering information and reducing the uncertainties in order to exclude as many groups as possible and thereby narrow the possibilities. Principally, the anthropologist aims to supply police investigators with the profile of the deceased and provide them clues to its identity. Arguably, their most important tool is the Fordisc program, used by the forensic anthropologists to identify particular attributes and characteristics present in the remains to identify the racial or ethnic group to which the deceased belongs. Most forensic anthropologists work in tandem with homicide investigators, odontologists and pathologists in order to determine who the decedent is, whether his death was caused by a violent at, and how much time had passed since death occurred (Adebisi, 2009). They could not, however, declare the official cause of death; even so, their research could inform the final report of the medical examiner who is charged with this authority. They may also be asked to give evidence in court as expert witnesses, but reservations about certain methods or techniques that are acceptable and used in the discipline (e.g. forensic facial reconstruction) render them inadmissible in court. Identification of numerous victims of war The war in Croatia lasted from 1991 to 1995. During that time, countless individuals, many of whom were civilians and therefore not bearing any forms of identification, were killed and interred collectively in mass graves. A particular case that proved more of a challenge than the others was the case of the multiple individuals contained in 13 wells. There were the remains of an estimated 61 individuals which had to be recovered, analysed and identified after the war (Slaus, Strinovic, Petrovecki, & Vyroubal, 2007). The difficulties in this case were attributable to the fact that they were recovered from wells, whereas other mass graves were deposited in earth. Mass graves in wells are inherently more hazardous, and in this instance there were additional risks. It was difficult to gain access ot the grave sites because they could only be reached after a trek through mine fields, and there was a strong chance that explosive devices were concealed among the remains. Furthermore, as would be expected, the human remains were poorly preserved. The differing depths of the wells as well as the dilemma of how the wells could be drained contributed to the problems encountered. Some of the more dilapidated wells also were in danger of collapsing, or the well walls caving in. The identification and the trauma analysis of the remains proved to be a challenge because the remains were commingled aside from being in a poor state of preservation (Slaus, et al., 2007). In this project, a number of disciplines were represented among the team members: forensic pathologists, odontologists and radiologists, as well as criminologist and molecular biologists. Likewise, forensic anthropologists were included; their contribution included: (1) assistance in the location and the recovery of the remains; (2) the separation and the ere-individualization of the remains that had been commingled; (3) interpretation of the signs of trauma among the skeletal remains, which include the differentiation among the antemortem, perimortem, and post-mortem trauma, and where possible the sequencing of perimortem traumas; (4) pursuit of “an osteo-biographical approach” so that the report not only provides the basic demographic profile of the remains (age upon death, gender, and stature), but further supplies other biological attributes which may prove helpful in identifying the deceased (Slaus, et al., 2007, p. 504). Facial reconstruction A relative recent development in forensic investigation is the technique of facial reconstruction, the aim of which is to create three-dimensional models or portraits of the deceased. One such facial reconstruction method is known as the Manchester method, which is geared towards the depiction of the deceased as he or she looked in life (in vivo), based on the remains (Vanezis, 2003). There are times when, despite the presence of soft tissue on the remains, the person could not be identified because of distortionary effects such as the slackening of the jaw due to relaxation of the muscles, the angling of the eye due to rigor mortis and gravity, and gas production from putrefaction that bloats the body, swells the face and distends the tongue. Because of such distortions and the expected emotional strain on family members, there are many incidences of false recognition - e.g. 10% of victims of tsunami and 50% of the victims in the bombing incident at Bali of October 2002 were falsely identified by family members who thought they recognized the face of the deceased as their relative (Wilkinson, 2010). Improper identification may have severe legal, social and religious implications, such as the determination of property rights or social benefits in the case of succession, the freedom to remarry for the spouse, and the filing of legal action against parties seen liable for the death. The “giving back of a name” is absolutely essential for the progression of a case in order to secure justice for the deceased and conviction for the perpetrator (Black, 2003, p. 55). While facial reconstruction is approached with as much scientific rigor as possible, there is always a point where the forensic anthropologist departs from what is certain and incorporates elements that are slightly conjectural. The reconstruction of hair, skin and soft tissue, particularly eyes and eye color, are composed mainly from the average profile of the racial or ethnic group to which the deceased is surmised to be affiliated. In other words, there is an element of artistic license, which may be little or significant depending on supporting information about the body, or the degree to which the remains has been skeletonized (Wilkinson, 2010). New principles discovered to estimate age Developing principles and theories that describe the relationship between skeletal attributes and the features of the individual it once was is one of the major objectives of forensic anthropology. For instance, the present methods for the histomorphometric estimation of the age at death for adults involve observation of accumulation of osteons. This method is relevant for the adult skeleton, but is not useful for the growing skeleton, since for the first and much of the second decade of life osteon numbers are poorly correlated to age. For subadults, therefore, osteon numbers are not indicative of age, and until recently there has been no reliable histological method for aging in the case of subadults (Science Letter, 2010). Recently, the Journal of Forensic Sciences reported a recent study that discovered a new method of estimating age for immature skeletons. The new method developed by forensic anthropologists of Boise State University is comprised of four stages, and is conducted on the sub-adult rib cortex. Analysis conducted on the rib cortex of 72 subjects ages 2 to 21 years has highlighted certain developmental changes in the bone microstructure which may be resorted to in order to surmise the age of the individual. A study of the bone microstructures showed systematic changes in rib cortical morphology that may be considered useful in classifying ribs into four age phases, which leads to an educated guess about the age (Science Letter, 2010). Advances in sex identification The identification of the gender of skeletal remains is one of the major concerns of forensic investigations, sex being a key variable in the biological profile of the individual being identified. The scientific discipline afforded by physical anthropology methodology is particularly useful in this regard, since sex estimation obtained on the basis of bone morphology, geometric morphometrics, and other techniques are population specific, for which a set of regional criteria as established by forensic anthropology is indispensable. One of the more recent developments, the molecular method of sex estimation, has proven particularly accurate, although as with the other, more traditional, methods such as morphology, it has its limitations. The experience encountered in conducting forensic investigations in South Africa, is that the results are many times more reliable if as many methods as possible are employed in tandem with each other (Bidmos, Gibbon & Strkalj, 2010). Building a forensic database Aside from the identification of the remains, the forensic anthropological team, composed of members of the Smithsonian Institute, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the University of Zagreb and the University of Tennessee, built a database from the information gathered at Croatia. The data gathered included the sex, age-at-death, stature, cranial and postcranial metric characteristics, and osteological and dental features. Other data were comprised of evidence of pathology, ante-mortem fractures, disease, and surgical interventions, perimortem trauma, and possible cause of death. Such a database could potentially serve a triple function: first, identification of a fundamental and standard set of measurements and other data for comparability of data to be ensured; second, for the data to be accumulated in digital form and accessed by computer, in order to facilitate the speedy retrieval, analysis and comparison of specific data subsets; and lastly, to enable the derivation of updated discriminant formulae in order to determine the stature, gender, and other attributes that would help in forensic analysis and comparative research (Slaus, et al., 2007). Conclusion Anthropology is the academic field relating to the study of man; physical anthropology is the subfield that deals with the study of man’s biological attributes, and forensic anthropology is that discipline within the subfield of physical anthropology that is concerned with the identification of human remains in aid of legal or police investigations. There are various levels in which forensic anthropology may aid in the investigation of deaths. At its most fundamental level, the scientific techniques could ascertain the sex, age at death, stature, ethnic or racial affiliation, as well as antemortem, perimortem, and post-mortem trauma, and time elapsed since death. This profile at least aids in excluding those social groups which are not suited to the profile. At its most profound level, the science is capable of identifying the deceased, giving the remains a name and possibly a cause of death and its circumstances, in order to aid in the prosecution of the guilty parties. Forensic anthropology does not claim to be entirely accurate in all instances; some of its methods, such as those of facial reconstruction, may still be met with some degree of doubt in many cases. However, there are many instances when forensic anthropology has proven particularly indispensable, such as the discernment of the different individuals among several commingled skeletons in mass graves. Furthermore, as the application of forensic anthropology is largely carried out by academics in universities, progressively newer and more reliable methods are being developed to refine techniques used leading to the ultimate identification of unknown remains. All things taken into account, the field of forensic anthropology is absolutely essential to the proper identification of unknown remains, particularly those in advanced state of decomposition where soft tissue has long putrefied, leaving only the skeleton from which to gain information. The use of anthropological techniques has enabled the resolution of many cases which would otherwise have gone undetermined. The scientific rigor with which the identification process is observed aids in the court’s appraisal of the evidence, and provides logical basis for the admissibility of evidence that would otherwise have been merely treated as conjecture. Absent any organised and probative method of inquiry such as that provided by forensic anthropology, the court would be hard pressed to find a foundation for accepting the identity of a skeleton. For this reason, it may be said that forensic anthropology plays a central role in death investigations, particular in cases where only partial remains are available, or where the remains were recovered from highly unfavorable situations, and that additional discoveries and refinements continue to exert a strong impact towards the admissibility of such evidence. Bibliography Adebisi, S. S. (2009) Forensic Anthropology In Perspective: The Current Trend. Internet Journal of Forensic Science, 4(1). Anon. (2010, Aug. 10) Forensic Science; Studies from Boise State University, Department of Anthropology yield new information about forensic science, Science Letter. Atlanta: p. 2739. Bidmos, M.A.; Gibbon, V.E.; & Strkalj, G. (2010). Recent advances in sex identification of human skeletal remains in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, vol. 106 (11/12), art. no. 238; DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v106i11/12.238 Black, S. (2003) Forensic Anthropology – Giving Back a Name. European Journal of Morphology. 41(1): 55-69 Slaus, M.; Strinovic, D.; Petrovecki, V.; & Vyroubal, V. (2007) Contribution of Forensic Anthropology to Identification Process in Croatia: Examples of Victims Recovered in Wells. Forensic Science. Croatian Medical Journal, 48: 503-512. Vanezis, M. (2003) Recognizing man’s reconstructed face. European Journal of Morphology. 41(1):55-69 Wilkinson, C. (2010) Facial reconstruction – anatomical art or artistic anatomy? Journal of Anatomy. 216: 235-250, DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01182.x Read More