Forensic Anthropology - Essay Example

Introduction If one needs to understand a structure in totality, he/she needs to start with the building blocks of the structure. There is no way a structure is going to be understood in absence of a detailed understanding of the basic building blocks of the structure or system. This is the same way and approach that can be applied in the understanding of forensic anthropology. To understand forensic anthropology it imperative that one understands what forensic involves and after that move on to understand what anthropology is all about. Having understood the two, it is then necessary to draw a link between the two or evaluate all the possible relationships between the two. It will also be imperative to reckon that a marriage between the two possible brings forth what is commonly termed as forensic anthropology. This paper seeks to show how biological anthropologist assist with a forensic investigation besides identification of individuals. The paper starts first by understanding what forensic is, then moves on to define anthropology and forensic anthropology then shows how anthropology can aid in forensics. What is Forensics The term forensic refers to the application of scientific knowledge in a bid to solve legal problems and enable the smooth running of legal proceedings (Bartol, 2004: p8). As such, any profession that uses scientific knowledge aids bin forensics and this explains the existence of such terms as forensic anthropology, forensic medicine, forensic science, forensic experts etc. Forensic comes from a Latin word "forensic" which means relating to a forum and forum in this case which according to the ancient Rome was a market place where people congregated to conduct all sorts of business as well as public affairs. As time went on, the term forensic was limited to reference of the courts of law thus entering English use in 1659 with that very meaning. Therefore, forensic refers to law problems or issues which are solved by the application of scientific knowledge. What is Anthropology The word anthropology comes from two Greek words anthropos which means human and -logia which means discourse. Therefore, anthropology is the human discourse. In other words, anthropology is the study of the human beings and their ancestors in entirety of time and space (Kottak, 2000: p3). Human beings and their ancestors are studied in terms of the physical characteristics, social and environmental relations and culture. Main concern of anthropology is the origin of the present homosapien's, ancestors, evolutionary development etc. As such, anthropologists study the skeletons, DNA, tools, etc of the modern man's ancestors to locate the origin of the present day behaviours and culture. Thus, the common questions asked by the anthropologists include but are not limited to: 1 What defines human beings 2 Who are the ancestors of modern human beings 3 What are the human physical traits 4 How do human beings behave 5 Why the differences and variations among the human beings 6 How has the evolutionary past human beings influenced both the culture and social organization These are just but examples of questions asked by anthropologists and have been used to offer a rough estimation of the scope of anthropology. The modern anthropology borrows extensively from both the humanities and natural sciences such as biology and chemistry. The modern anthropologists have specialized in technical subfields which have found wider applications both within and without the scope of anthropology. What is Forensic Anthropology Basically, forensic anthropology is the application of anthropology in forensics. It is simply the marriage between anthropology and forensics. Generally, forensic anthropology is the assessment of the skeletal remains of human beings on behalf of the law enforcers in a bid to establish the identity of the bones (Klepinger, 2006: p3). Anthropology is wide and is divided into linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology and physical anthropology. Of great help to forensic is the physical anthropology which examines and studies human remains, bones and teeth to establish not only the identity but also the sex, age, weight, cause of death, race and culture among other things. Physical anthropology over the last century has developed methods which help them analyse remains of human beings so as to make conclusions about the owners of the remains. Such conclusions include such things as the age at death, sex, height, state of health at death, cause of death etc. Forensic anthropology thus entails the application of the above mentioned methods in physical anthropology to determine the identity among other facts about unidentified remains and Skeletons. As such, a forensic anthropologist can use these methods to construct a profile of the remains which in this case are unidentified. The profile in this case, as mentioned earlier, includes things like age, sex, cause of death, ethnicity, time since death, height and trauma on bones among other things. This profile is often prepared by the forensic anthropologist on demand mainly from the law enforcement agencies such as the police, courts etc. How Anthropologists Assist with a Forensic Investigation The most common assistance of anthropologist in forensic investigations is the identification of the unidentified human remains. However, there are other multifarious ways in which the forensic anthropologists can aid a forensic investigation. The first contribution of the anthropologist to forensic investigation is related to the primary role of identification of the human remains. This contribution involves the anthropologist testifying in court about the identity of the skeletal remains and/or trauma that may have been identified on the bones (Camenson, 2008: pp97-99). Secondly, the identification is possible through DNA but at times thing such as the sex, age, time since death, cause of death etc are often important more tan the identity. Of course after the identification, investigation doesn't end there and as such the anthropologists are expected to determine the specific manner and cause of death. As far as the cause of death, the anthropologist is able to establish whether the owner of the remains was shot, hacked to death or drowned based on trauma on the bones and other technical factors. Similarly, if the owner of the remains died out of poor healthy, then the anthropologist will be bale to establish this because some of the methods used are able to give the state of health at death. The manner of death is often given in five broad categories which include homicide, accident, suicide, natural death or unknown. The cause of death is the disease or/and injury that led to the death. If it is homicide, the anthropologist can work together with other forensic experts to get the murderer (Becker, 2004: pp235-237). The law enforcement may have up to this point known the identity and cause of death but these alone are not enough to conclude a forensic investigation and thus there is need to establish the time when the death occurred. The anthropologist is able to locate with precision the length of time since death and this information can be used to refer to the media during that time to check for reports on missing people etc such that the identity and circumstances leading to the death are established. Some of the estimation methods used are shown below: 1 3 weeks -- articulated bones 2 5 weeks - some bones scatter, some bones articulated 3 4 months - disarticulated bones often within a 10 inch circle 4 7-8 months -- disarticulated bones often within 20 inch circle 5 1 year -- smaller bones absent besides a complete bone disarticulation 6 2-4 years -- broken bones, scattered bones and some large bones are missing 7 12 years and more-- bones rotten and there is partial burial if the remain was initially on surface 8 15-20 years -lack of surface evidence The anthropologists work closely with other forensic experts and as far the determination of time after death is concerned, the anthropologist gives his estimation as shown above as the other experts also determine their own time for comparison purposes. The experts can use the fabrics such as cloth, paper, hair, etc retrieved from the scene where the remains were found. The estimation is based on the type of fabric and the span of time it is likely to be still in good condition. This is shown in the table below: (Source: Morse et al, 1983: p143) Material Length of Time(in months) in Good Condition Rayon 1-2 if buried 5 on surface Paper 1 in alkaline or fresh water 5 on surface/in acid* Cotton/Wool 6 in alkaline or fresh water 10 to 15 on surface/in acid Human Hair 10 to 15 if buried wind blows it away on surface Cotton/Poly 15 on surface 25 to 35 if buried There are multifarious ways in which the biological anthropologist can help in a forensic investigation. These are some to the ways: 1 A biological anthropologist goes to the scene where the remains have been discovered to assist in the collection of the remains and/or bones. 2 Helps to clean up the bones so collected so that they can easily be viewed 3 Carries out a detailed analysis to offer a profile of the remains 4 Looks for evident trauma on bones and/or flesh to establish the pathway of a bullet or the number of stabs 5 More often than not, a biological anthropologist works closely with a forensic odontologist so as to match the skeletal profile with the dental records 6 As mentioned earlier, the anthropologists testifies in court to testify on the injuries and trauma realized on the remains of course besides the identity of the remains. To better understand the role of an anthropologist in a forensic investigation a scenario is considered. Consider a situation where a hunter in a forest stumbles upon what he believes to be a human skull or skeleton. Thus, he not only marks the scene but also rushes to get the police. The police will then be called to determine first of all whether or no the remains are that of a human being. If the remains turn out to be that of a human being, then the anthropologist will help the law enforcers in collecting the bones or remains from the scene. More often than not a pictorial capture is taken by the anthropologist just in case there will be need to recreate the scene during the investigation. It is important to note that the anthropologist doesn't work alone at the scene. He is often accompanied by other forensic experts who pick evidence such as blood, hair, DNA etc (Tosha et al, 2006: pp3-12). From the scene, the anthropologists carries the remains to establish a detailed profile in bid to establish the identity of the remains besides other facts such as the cause and manner of death, time after death, state of health at death etc. If the police have a record of a missing person(s) around the time the death occurred (based on the anthropologist's analysis) then the anthropologist works together with the odontologist to establish if the identity of the police' person, the anthropologist's profile and the odontologist's data match (Reichs, 1998: pp122-126). The identity having been established, the anthropologist works closely with the forensic pathologists to establish the evidence for traumatic injuries that may have caused the death. As such the anthropologist helps the forensic pathologist to clean the bones further to enable the pathologist to have a close look at not only the type but also the number of episodes of trauma. Through their analysis, the pathologist is able to establish and ascertain the evidence for traumatic injury which is ostensibly an important factor in homicide trial or netting the murderer (Siegel & Houck, 2006: pp186-188). It is important to note the fact that the branch of anthropology which is important to forensic is the physical anthropology which aids tremendously is forensic investigations as shown from the foregoing sections. This branch has been helpful in many ways as it has been mentioned above. It is imagined that if the anthropologists, especially the physical anthropologists, do not offer their expertise in forensic investigations, obviously there would be loose ends which would be quite difficult to fix. In other word, anthropology has contributed and continues to contribute immensely to forensics aiding to expedite homicide trials and finding answers to questions which would otherwise be difficult to answer (Spencer, 1997: pp393-395). Conclusion The term forensic refers to the application of scientific knowledge in a bid to solve legal problems and enable the smooth running of legal proceedings and the marriage between anthropology and anthropology gives forensic anthropology which simply represents the role the anthropologists play in forensic investigations. These roles have been enumerated and they range from determination of the identity of skeletal remains to establishing the manner and cause of death not forgetting the time after the occurrence of death. All these facts besides the profile of the remains have proven to be quite instrumental in expediting the running of homicide cases. This is the reason why the growing contribution of anthropology to forensic science cannot be ignored now more than ever before. References Morse et al, (1983): Handbook of Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology, Florida State University Foundation, p143 Reichs K J (1998): Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains, Charles C. Thomas Publishers, pp122-126 Bartol C R, (2004): Introduction to forensic psychology, SAGE Publishers, p8 Klepinger L, (2006): Fundamentals of forensic anthropology, John Wiley and Sons, p3 Kottak C P, (2000): Anthropology: the exploration of human diversity, McGraw-Hill, p3 Camenson B, (2008): Opportunities in Forensic Science, McGraw-Hill Professional, pp97-99 Becker R F, (2004): Criminal Investigation: A Contemporary Perspective, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, pp235-237 Spencer F, (1997): History of physical anthropology, Taylor & Francis Publishers, pp393-395 Tosha et al, (2006): Forensic recovery of human remains: archaeological approaches, CRC Press, pp3-12 Siegel A & Houck M, (2006): Fundamentals of forensic science, Academic Press, pp186-188 Read More