Introduction
The idea of "the CSI effect" has created much attention towards the demand for law enforcement agencies to engage in practical analysis of crime scenes in a bid to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the events. This has created a craze among college and university students because a majority of these students tend to find themselves experiencing the need to engage in forensic anthropology as a major. Most of these students tend to engage in different fields of forensics because the field is beneficial for law enforcement agencies and the society as a whole (Ferguson & Raitt, 2013). However, most of these students do not have a clear understanding of the various fields of study associated with forensic anthropology, thus, creating the need for having to outline some of these fields in this report. The report seeks to establish precisely how the use of forensic anthology is changing law enforcement and the society.
Forensic Anthropology in Law Enforcement
The idea of using forensic anthropology in law enforcement presents a viable platform from which law enforcement officers can determine different aspects relating to the identification of deceased individuals. Additionally, the forensic anthropology helps in determining the exact cause of death in cases of uncertainties. In most cases, forensic anthropology is applied when dealing with crime scene investigations (CSI) based on the extensive nature of this field of study. Through forensic anthropology, it becomes easier to engage in identification of deceased individuals regardless of the fact that some of these individuals may be in various states such as decomposing, burned, or mutilated beyond recognition. Forensic anthropology goes beyond the idea of physical identification of individuals, as it seeks to incorporate other fields of study including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy in the identification process.
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The application of forensic archaeology works towards ensuring that the law enforcement officers engaging in crime scene investigations can extract the remains or body parts of the deceased in a manner that is controlled and forensically acceptable. That means that the law enforcement officers must understand that any form of forensic contamination of the remains or body parts may create a challenge for the forensic anthropologists engaging in the identification. Forensic archaeology focuses on ensuring that each of the part or remains identified is placed within a controlled environment to avoid any form of contamination. The incorporation of forensic archaeology as part of forensic anthropology seeks to ensure that the forensic anthropologists involved not only identify the victims but also seek to determine the exact cause of death (Ferguson & Raitt, 2013). That is one of the essential elements in law enforcement, as it allows the officers involved to create an account of the events before the death of the victim.
From that perspective, students intending to study forensic anthropology must take note of the fact that it tends to have a close connection to forensic archaeology attributed to the role that both play in supporting different functions in law enforcement. The other essential element to consider when dealing with forensic anthropology entails the support of forensic taphonomy. Forensic taphonomy refers to the idea of having to evaluate the effects of the environment on a decomposition of a body, which, in turn, plays a central role in determining the exact time of death (Byers, 2016). The primary role of forensic anthropology is to create a fundamental analysis of the crime scene. The analysis focuses on determining the actual time of the death of an individual to provide an actual report concerning a particular investigation undertaken by the law enforcers. The application of forensic taphonomy would be of value in meeting this particular objective, as it reflects on the environmental factors. That means that the forensic anthropologist would take note of the environmental factors including elements such as humidity or oxygen levels to determine the rate at which the remains may have decayed.
According to Ferguson & Raitt (2013), improper use of forensic taphonomy results in various challenges among the forensic anthropologists in their bid to establish a precise analysis of a deceased individual based on the causes and time of their deaths. In this case, the challenges in making proper analysis make it difficult for the law enforcement officials to make conclusive reports on the events that may have occurred before the death of the victim. Forensic anthropology seeks to create a platform for the law enforcement officers to have all the necessary information that they would require during their investigations. That makes it easier for them to find the suspects associated with the acts of murder.
On the other hand, forensic anthropology has a close link to forensic toxicology, which seeks to ensure that the forensic anthropologist involved can establish causes of death when dealing with issues such as poisoning and drug use. The number of cases where deceased individuals are poisoned and cases where the victims die due to consumption of drugs is increasing at a significant rate. That creates the need for forensic anthropologists to develop some form of understanding about the consumption levels and toxicity levels associated with the products consumed. Consequently, that creates the necessity for having to incorporate forensic toxicology as part of forensic anthropology, which works towards establishing the exact substance consumed before the death of the victim. The main idea of using forensic toxicology reflects on the fact that it plays a critical role in analyzing the substances.
Through forensic toxicology, the forensic anthropologists involved can create toxicology reports on their patients and focus their attention towards utilization of technology that would be of value in highlighting the exact cause of death. However, students need to understand that the leading role of forensic toxicology is not only to evaluate the substances consumed but also reflects on providing forensic anthropologists with an understanding of how to analyze the reports. Additionally, this allows the law enforcement officers involved to determine whether the substances consumed might have played a key role in causing the death of the victims. In this case, the ultimate role of forensic toxicology as a branch of forensic anthropology is to seek relevant and appropriate information relating to the investigations carried down by the law enforcement officers.
Another critical branch of forensic anthropology that students intending to this course must understand about its impacts in promoting effectiveness in law enforcement is forensic pathology. Forensic pathology refers to a distinct type of pathology that focuses more on the idea of finding the exact cause of death through examination of a corpse while focusing much attention on the preliminary results of the investigation. One of the critical challenges that law enforcement officers encounter in their bid to engage in an analysis of their victims revolves around lack of a clear understanding of the exact cause of death. In most cases, the exact cause of death is not known considering that some of the victims do not show any physical signs that may provide a hint to suggest an exact cause of death of the victim. Thus, this creates the need for having to use forensic anthropology to be in a better position to determine the exact cause of death for the victims involved.
The idea of incorporating forensic pathology as part of forensic anthropology paves the way for forensic anthropologists to make useful conclusions with regard the exact cause of death based on their analysis of the corpse. The analysis will focus on different aspects associated with the death including any form of weapon used to inflict injury resulting in the death of the victim (Morris, 2013). For example, when a victim has a gunshot wound, it is within the responsibility of the forensic anthropologist to present a report that seeks to outline the exact caliber or gun used depending on the injury identified. From that view, the forensic anthropologist would need to engage in a process that would engage in a compelling analysis of the corpse while focusing specifically on the affected areas.
The adoption of forensic pathology paves the way for the forensic anthropologist involved in the investigation process to make practical conclusions based on the nature of injuries. For the law enforcement officers involved in the investigations, it becomes much easier for them to establish a connection between the cause of death and the events that may have occurred before the death of the victims involved. That means that it becomes much easier for law enforcement officers to make valid conclusions on some of the events that may have taken place before the occurrence of the victim's death. From that perspective, one can take note of the fact that forensic pathology, as a branch of forensic anthropology, is an active area of study. Students would need to take note of the fact that their role as forensic anthropologists may extend towards forensic pathology depending on their varied roles in the analysis of victims.
Another critical area of study for forensic anthropologists in their bid to engaging in practical analysis of crime scenes is forensic dentistry, which revolves around the application of dental knowledge when dealing with human remains. One critical aspect to note when highlighting the concept of forensic dentistry is that the patterns presented by human teeth are very distinct from one individual to another, as well as, from one race to another. Consequently, this makes it easier when intending to use forensic dentistry as a method of identification for victims due to the unique dental features. The central area where forensic anthropologists have embraced the idea of using forensic dentistry is when dealing with mass fatalities especially after the identification of mass graves. In such cases, it becomes hard to determine the race of the victims considering that the victims are within different levels of decomposition.
However, the adoption of forensic dentistry makes it much easier for forensic anthropologists to make conclusive judgments focusing on the area of race, gender, as well as, an age of the affected victims. Students intending to engage in forensic anthropology need to understand that this field of study reflects on the idea that one must have a dynamic understanding of different aspects associated with the understanding of the human body. That means that they need to have a clear understanding of patterns associated with teeth among other features. The incorporation of bloodstain pattern analysis is also an active field of study when dealing with forensic anthropology. In this particular field of study, the critical element of focus is engaging in an in-depth analysis of the bloodstains within a crime scene as part of the investigation process. Forensic anthropologists can make adequate and effective conclusions about the nature and time, as well as, other details associated with the crime.
Forensic Anthropology in Society
For the society, forensic anthropology creates an active pattern about the occurrence of crimes resulting in the death of victims, thus, paving the way for extensive investigations into the crimes. From a social perspective, crimes resulting in death tend to have varied impacts on close family members and friends, thus, creating the need for them to seek closure depending on the overall structure of investigations. However, in some cases, law enforcement departments experience significant limitations in their bid to conducting some of these investigations attributed to lack of knowledge associated with such crimes (Morris, 2013). Thus, this paves the way for the incorporation of forensic anthropology, as it seeks to ensure that the society can establish a front for active investigations. The long-term effect associated with forensic anthropology is that it creates a better avenue from which law enforcement officers can conduct their investigations. The social impact of forensic anthropology is that it has helped in providing families with that sense of closure based on the crimes resulting in deaths of different victims.
Conclusion
In summary, "the CSI effect" has created much attention towards the demand for law enforcement agencies to engage in useful analysis of crime scenes. Forensic anthropology is applied when dealing with crime scene investigations (CSI) based on the extensive nature of this field of study. The incorporation of forensic archaeology as part of forensic anthropology seeks to ensure that the forensic anthropologists involved not only identify the victims. The application of forensic taphonomy would be of value in meeting this particular objective, as it reflects on the environmental factors. Forensic anthropology seeks to create a positive platform from which to ensure that law enforcement officers involved in an investigation have all the necessary information that they would require during their investigations.
References
Byers, S. N. (2016). Introduction to forensic anthropology . Taylor & Francis.
Ferguson, P. R., & Raitt, F. E. (2013). ‘If a Picture Paints a Thousand Words’: The Development of Human Identification Techniques in Forensic Anthropology and Their Implications for Human Rights in the Criminal Process. The International Journal of Evidence & Proof, 17 (2), 127-156.
Morris, A. G. (2013). The DNA bill: Forensic science in the service of society. South African Journal of Science, 109 (11-12), 1-1.
