Raffaela Arrabaça Francisco

Approaching Utility in Forensic Anthropology

Abstract Efficacy and cost-effectiveness have emerged as important topics in forensic science. So far, however, social research has tended to neglect infrequently used and highly specialized sub-disciplines of forensic science. This paper begins to address this deficiency with regard to one such sub-discipline, namely forensic anthropology, the analysis of skeletal remains in the interests of criminal justice. A simple attrition model is derived from the quantitative analysis of caseloads encountered at two contrasting regional medico-legal institutes: Sheffield Medico-Legal Center (SMLC) in the United Kingdom and the Centro de Medicina Legal (CEMEL) in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. The pattern of cases encountered in these samples (n = 105) is assessed against 36 measures of case provenance and type, methods employed in casework, case demography, and contribution to the investigation recorded in a matrix of 3,780 data items. Representativeness in relation to forensic anthropology casework in general is established via comparison with four published surveys—Smithsonian (n = 474), Tennessee (n = 513), Montevideo (n = 344), and Porto Alegre (n = 276). The model may be improved via systematic case recording, including courtroom finalizations and verdicts. It suggests case conversions would be increased via scene attendance, improved communication and integration, end-to-end performance management, feedback on evidential reliability, and tailoring of research and education to reflect caseload. Following contemporary expectations in social research, the model is used to identify policy changes that would contribute to crime reduction and prevention. The value of forensic anthropology to public health and safety and its significance to human rights is discussed. Males predominated all of the studies considered in this analysis, whether victims of homicide, suicide, accident, or natural causes. These findings appear to offer compelling evidence to support human rights policies that recognize the right to life and health for males as well as females in countries at all stages of socioeconomic development. The right to life is the most fundamental human right to which one is entitled without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. Despite its longevity, forensic anthropology has many attributes of a nascent discipline. Its definition and its disciplinary boundaries are uncertain, and—outside of the United States, at least—standards and regulation are inconsistent. The paper represents an attempt to offer a comprehensive, if preliminary, approach to utility in forensic anthropology in anticipation that it will provoke debate and further research.

Utility in Forensic Anthropology: Findings Contributing to Case Conversion

Abstract In Approaching Utility in Forensic Anthropology, Evison, Francisco, and Guimarães (2012) propose an attrition model for the study of the impact of forensic anthropology in the justice system and consider wider implications for crime prevention and public health and safety. In this short supplementary article, brief illustrations of case findings are offered to demonstrate their significance in case progression—or conversions—in the investigative and prosecutorial process. The examples, it is suggested, support the specific arguments for improved communication and integration, feedback on evidential reliability, and tailoring of research and education to reflect caseload proposed via the attrition model, as well as policy advances that would improve efficacy in public health and safety.

Procedural and political aspects of forensic exhumation in Brazil

Exhumation may be defined as the legally sanctioned excavation and recovery of the remains of lawfully buried or – occasionally – cremated individuals, as distinct from forensic excavations of clandestinely buried remains conducted as part of a criminal investigation and from unlawful disinterment of human remains, commonly referred to as ‘bodysnatching’. The aim of this article is to review the role of exhumation – so defined – in the activities of CEMEL, the Medico-Legal Centre of the Ribeirao Preto Medical School-University of Sao Paulo, in international, regional and local collaborations. Exhumations form part of routine forensic anthropology casework; scientific research in physical and forensic anthropology; and forensic casework conducted in collaboration with the Brazilian Federal Police; and are carried out as part of humanitarian investigations into deaths associated with the civil–military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985. This article aims to offer a non-technical summary – with reference to international comparative information – of the role of exhumation in investigative and scientific work and to discuss developments in their historical and political context.

Validation of a standard forensic anthropology examination protocol by measurement of applicability and reliability on exhumed and archive samples of known biological attribution

Forensic anthropology makes an important contribution to human identification and assessment of the causes and mechanisms of death and body disposal in criminal and civil investigations, including those related to atrocity, disaster and trafficking victim identification. The methods used are comparative, relying on assignment of questioned material to categories observed in standard reference material of known attribution. Reference collections typically originate in Europe and North America, and are not necessarily representative of contemporary global populations. Methods based on them must be validated when applied to novel populations. This study describes the validation of a standardized forensic anthropology examination protocol by application to two contemporary Brazilian skeletal samples of known attribution. One sample (n=90) was collected from exhumations following 7-35 years of burial and the second (n=30) was collected following successful investigations following routine case work. The study presents measurement of (1) the applicability of each of the methods: used and (2) the reliability with which the biographic parameters were assigned in each case. The results are discussed with reference to published assessments of methodological reliability regarding sex, age and-in particular-ancestry estimation.