Development and implementation of forensic anthropology in Swedish forensic practice

Alfsdotter, Clara; Petaros, Anja; Ankin, Güvencel; Petra, Molnar; Teglind, Rebecka; Alkass, Kanar

doi:10.2478/sjfs-2022-0015

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In many federal states of Germany, acquiring the necessary expertise is part of the underlying specialty training in Legal Medicine. The processing of bone finds differs greatly from other countries, where forensic anthropology as an independent subject has a broader profile [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study was limited to cases with purely forensic-osteological examination. Cases in which the human remains were corpses in the sense of the applicable legislation were not considered, in contrast to other studies dealing with broader forensicanthropological casework [30,36]. Human remains that were corpses according to current law [24,25] were examined in a forensic autopsy by two physicians in accordance with the German Code of Criminal Procedure ( § 87 StPO).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bone finds and their medicolegal examination: a study from Hesse, Germany

Ohlwärther

Holz

Edler

et al. 2023

Forensic Sci Med Pathol

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Bones found by chance can be of great criminal or historical interest. The nature of their appraisal depends on the individual case, the locally effective legislation and the available resources. To assess whether a find is relevant with respect to criminal investigation, the circumstances of the find and the results of the forensic examination carried out by trained personnel must be considered. The aim of this study was to obtain an overview of the circumstances and nature of the finds as well as the results of the subsequent expert opinions by evaluating bone finds from the federal state of Hesse, Germany. For this purpose, over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2020, all bone finds examined at the Institutes of Legal Medicine in Gießen and Frankfurt am Main, Germany, were evaluated retrospectively with regard to the locations and circumstances of the finds, their nature (human or non-human), the postmortem interval, possible traces of violent impact and the results of further examinations. Of the 288 bone finds evaluated, 38.2% were found in forests, meadows and parks. In 50.7%, the finds contained human bones, of which 37.0% had a forensically relevant postmortem interval of 50 years or less. Evidence of trauma was described in 77.4% of the human bone cases: postmortem damage in 78.8%, peri-mortem injury in 9.7% and ante-mortem injury in 11.5%. DNA examinations were performed in 40.4% of the human bone finds. They yielded STR profiles in 81.3%, leading to a definite identification in 35.4%. Among the non-human bones sent in, the most common were bones from pigs (23.4%), deer (18.1%), cattle (16.4%), roe deer (11.7%) and sheep (11.7%). The macroscopic examination is the first step of the forensic-osteological evaluation and sets the course for further examinations or investigations. DNA examinations are of great importance for the reliable identification of human bones. They were responsible for 70.8% of successful identifications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone finds and their medicolegal examination: a study from Hesse, Germany

Ohlwärther

Holz

Edler

et al. 2023

Forensic Sci Med Pathol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Awareness of forensic anthropology in Switzerland: a survey among forensic practitioners, police, and prosecutors

Siebke,

Abegg,

Fracasso

et al. 2023

Int J Legal Med

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Forensic anthropology (FA) as a specialized discipline has been practised in multi-lingual Switzerland for over a decade. A variety of expertise regarding osteological assessments as well as facial image comparison (FIC) is provided by different centres. Nevertheless, information is lacking about the awareness of FA and its benefits for forensic investigations among forensic stakeholders. Therefore, a survey was sent to Swiss anthropologists (AN) and related professions (police officers, prosecutors, and forensic pathologists) to assess three main aspects: (1) the experience of working (biological/forensic) anthropologists within FA; (2) how FA is perceived by other professions within the legal system; and (3) identify gaps (if any) in understanding of FA with the aim to suggest avenues for improvement if necessary. The results show that awareness of FA varies by occupation and cantonal regions. In areas where close collaborations between forensic anthropologists (FAs) and other stakeholders have been formally established, be it with focus on osteological analyses or FIC, the awareness of FA competencies was superior to areas where this was not the case. An overwhelming majority of forensic actors expressed interest in continuing education related to the role of FA. These findings indicate that facilitation of communication and collaboration leads to improvement in the awareness of the competencies of FAs and their contribution to forensic investigations.

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Development and implementation of forensic anthropology in Swedish forensic practice

Cited by 2 publications

References 55 publications

Bone finds and their medicolegal examination: a study from Hesse, Germany

Bone finds and their medicolegal examination: a study from Hesse, Germany

Awareness of forensic anthropology in Switzerland: a survey among forensic practitioners, police, and prosecutors

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