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Required chapter Forensic Nursing: A Concise Manual – Comprehensive Study Notes

I. Forensic Science Background

  • A. Etymology and scope
    • The word forensic originates from the Latin word forum, which refers to the law, and science, which is the application of the various disciplines of science to the law.
  • B. Professional organization
    • The American Academy of Forensic Science, established in {1948}, is the oldest and most influential professional organization of forensic scientists worldwide, with a current membership of {5{,}000}.
  • C. Field definition
    • The field involves the application of scientific theory, concepts, and principles to civil and criminal laws.
  • D. Purpose of forensic results
    • Proof of guilt or innocence is often determined by the results of the forensic evidence.
  • E. Contents and scope of forensic science (selected areas, non-exhaustive)
    • 1. Weapons identification
    • 2. Fingerprinting
    • 3. Questioned document analysis
    • 4. Chemical identification
    • 5. Trace analysis of hair, fiber, or soil
    • 6. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis
    • 7. Investigation of explosives
    • 8. Criminal justice system
    • 9. Crime scene photography
      1. Terrorism
      1. Disaster response
    • a. Caused by humans
    • b. Natural
    • c. Nuclear
      1. Cybercrime
      1. Human rights violations: international and regional
    • a. Genocide
    • b. Torture: sexual and psychological
    • c. Human trafficking
    • d. Mass executions
      1. Human response to stress

II. History of Forensic Science

  • A. Ancient roots
    • Forensic science history can be traced to the ancient Egyptians, who developed a system of law and a judicial system that was adapted into later Greek and Roman laws.
  • B. Egyptian law and practice
    • Egyptian law was based on a sense of right and wrong and that everyone should be viewed as equal under the law; the slave was the exception.
    • 1. Criminal offenses were investigated prior to rendering a final judgment.
    • 2. Religious beliefs would not allow an autopsy to be performed for establishing cause and manner of death.
    • 3. Written records of trial proceedings and judgment were used as precedent for similar issues.
  • C. Ancient Greece
    • relied on the principle of reason, taught by Aristotle, to resolve issues of self, politics, war strategies, religion, and the individual’s relationship to the gods.
    • 1. Created a court system.
    • 2. Appointed council to administer government and the court system.
    • 3. Appointed officials whose only job was to write laws.
    • 4. Developed procedural laws guiding judges on how to use laws.
    • 5. Created laws for public services and family laws regulating behavior of men and women.
    • 6. Identified homicide as a tort law.
  • D. Roman Empire
    • Developed a sophisticated process of criminal investigation and punishment.
    • 1. First people to turn law into a science.
    • 2. Wrote the first legal code for Roman law, The Law of the Twelve Tables, which provided the foundation for all Western civil and criminal law.
  • E. China
    • The Washing Away of Wrongs by Sung Tz’u, written in {1186}–{1249} (McKnight, 1981), served as a guidebook for death investigation.
    • 1. The text identifies many forensic science principles and concepts that are part of modern forensic science and criminal investigation.
    • 2. During the {12}^{ ext{th}} and {13}^{ ext{th}} centuries, most homicides were the result of sudden violence, robberies, or disputes among families, coworkers, and others.
    • 3. The focus is on resolving cause of death as homicide, suicide, natural causes, or accident.
    • 4. Death investigation followed a well-organized system of
    • a. Reporting a death
    • b. An inquest (judicial inquiry) in the presence of a jury
    • c. Trial by jury
    • d. Sentencing of the guilty suspect
    • 5. Focus on the position and condition of the body and the instrument used to cause death.
    • 6. People with information regarding the death were questioned (interrogated).
    • 7. Instruments were identified that may produce a specific type of injury or death.

III. Technology and Forensic Science Techniques

  • A. Post-17th century technological advances
    • The microscope and photography, X-ray, new laboratory equipment, and tests such as blood typing and the application of physics to ballistic trajectories increased the accuracy of criminal investigation.
  • B. Locard’s exchange principle
    • Central to forensic science: “You touch it, it’s yours.”
    • 1. Materials transfer example: fibers from a sofa can become part of you or your clothing; trace materials from your skin, hair, fingernails, clothes can remain on the sofa. If collected and preserved properly, these materials can reveal activities from days earlier and whether others wore your clothes.
    • 2. Dirt on shoes can identify the crime location; microscopic materials in dirt can point to a location and help infer weather conditions at the time of stepping in the dirt.
    • 3. The shoe will contain the individual’s skin cells from feet or fingers that tied the laces, plus any other material (dirt, food, hair, sweat, etc.) touched by hands during tying.
  • C. FBI establishment
    • In {1932}, under Director J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI designated a national laboratory to offer forensic science services to law enforcement agencies across the United States.
    • Currently, the FBI Laboratory is the largest forensic laboratory in the world.

IV. Basics of Forensic Science

  • Justice, Evidence Preservation, Evidence Collection, Evidence Identification, Documentation
  • BASIS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE (implied core principles across practice)

V. Functions of a Forensic Scientist

  • A. Identification, collection, and preservation of physical and biological evidence
  • B. Analysis of physical evidence
  • C. Provide expert witness testimony
  • D. Prove the existence of a crime or establish a connection to the crime
  • E. Provide skilled documentation related to chain of custody and precise record maintenance
  • F. Work as a member of an investigative team, including:
    • 1. Police officers
    • 2. Sheriff deputies
    • 3. Prosecution and defense attorneys
    • 4. Federal agencies (e.g., FBI, CIA)
    • 5. Immigration officials
    • 6. Other professionals (e.g., forensic psychiatrist/psychologist, forensic pathologist, forensic nurse, or other specialists)
  • G. Provide death notification
  • H. Determine the who, what, where, when, and why of a crime

VI. Forensic Science Specialty Areas

  • A. Specialties as classified by the American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS) in 2008
    • Criminalistics: Application of physical sciences to criminal investigation
    • Engineering science: Application of physical science to failures of structures from accidents, fires, or human causes
    • Jurisprudence: Application of science or philosophy of law
    • Digital and multimedia sciences: Computer data processes and media recording in legal investigations
    • Odontology: Dentistry applied to the legal system
    • Questioned documents: Forensic methods to determine authenticity/origin of documents
    • Toxicology: Study of drugs and poisons with legal implications
    • Pathology/Biology: Forensic medicine; investigation of death
    • Forensic medicine: Subspecialty of medicine for living and dead
    • Forensic pathology: Subspecialty of medicine in deceased investigations
    • Biology: Biological sciences in criminal investigation
    • Archaeology
    • Taphonomy: Postmortem processes and environmental effects
    • Physical anthropology: Skeletal biology for medicolegal questions
    • Psychiatry and behavioral science: Psychology in law; criminal profiling
    • General section
  • B. General section forensic science specialist (AAFS 2008): roles
    • Laboratory investigation
    • Field investigation
    • Education
    • Research
    • Clinical work
    • Communications
    • Accountant
    • Archaeologist
    • Facial reconstructionist
    • Artist/sculptor
    • Aviation accident investigator
    • Ballistics analyst
    • Computer crime investigator
    • Computer specialist
    • Forensic consultant
    • Coroner (nonpathologist)
    • Crime scene investigator
    • Medicolegal investigator
    • Educator for all areas of forensic science
    • Image enhancer
    • Marine biologist
    • Nurse examiner
    • Photographer
    • Polygraph examiner
    • Radiologist
    • Researcher
    • Rehabilitation specialist
    • Social worker with forensic science application
    • Speech specialist
  • C. Developing specialty areas (AAFS 2008): new or evolving fields
    • Computer imaging of crime scenes
    • Suspect composites
    • Victim characteristics for potential identification
    • Tape recordings and digital voice identification
    • Acoustic and speech analysis
    • Accurate detailed identification of financial schemes, money laundering
    • Internet fraud
    • Forestry and wildlife science
    • Veterinary medicine
    • Botany
    • Ecological awareness
  • D. National and international information systems
    • 1. United States information banks for statistical and epidemiological data
    • a. Classification of diseases, injuries, and causes of death
    • b. Standard format for death certificates
    • 2. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS): national/international fingerprint storage and comparison system
    • 3. Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)
    • a. A national database containing DNA of individuals convicted of sexual or violent crimes
    • b. Originated as part of the DNA Identification Act (Congress) in 1994
    • 4. Integrated Ballistics Information System (IBIS): database for cartridge casings and bullets
  • E. Future directions in forensic science
    • 1. Specialties in both physical and biological sciences will expand with better tools
    • 2. Enhanced investigations and more efficient criminal justice processes
    • 3. Improved work with victims for long-term physical and psychological recovery
    • 4. Continued demand for DNA analysis of past crime scene evidence to verify or overturn guilty verdicts
    • 5. Better laboratory technology to speed DNA and other analyses
    • 6. Portable devices capable of DNA analysis
    • 7. Use of digital radiology
    • 8. Ultraviolet and infrared injury photography to detect biological/biochemical changes after injury
    • 9. Fingerprint rejuvenation to identify deteriorated remains
      1. Scene investigation after natural and human–to–human disasters
      1. Ultimate goals: victim care and justice, community safety; punishment or rehabilitation for perpetrators
      1. Improvements in computer technology
  • Bibliography (selected foundational sources)
    • American Academy of Forensic Science (2009). “Choosing a Career.”
    • Brenner, J. (2002). Forensic science: An illustrated dictionary. CRC Press.
    • Burdick, W. L. (2004). The principles of Roman law and their relation to modern law.
    • Clark, S. C., Ernst, M. F., Haglund, W. D., & Jentzen, J. M. (1996). Medicolegal death investigator: A systematic training program for the professional death investigator.
    • Durose, M. R. (2008). Census of publicly funded forensic crime laboratories, 2005.
    • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2008). What we investigate.
    • Garrison, D. (2008). Recovered prints from a badly deteriorated hand.
    • Girard, J. E. (2008). Criminalistics: Forensic science and crime.
    • Hammer, R. M., Moynihan, B., & Pagliaro, E. M. (Eds.). (2006). Forensic nursing: A handbook for practice.
    • Harris, R. J. (Ed.). (1971). The Legacy of Egypt, Theodorides, Aristide.
    • Hoyt, C. A. (1999). Evidence recognition and collection in the clinical setting.
    • James, S. H., & Nordby, J. J. (Eds.). (2005). Forensic science: An introduction to scientific and investigative techniques.
    • Klingle, C., & Reiter, K. (2008). Ultraviolet and infrared injury photography.
    • Lanni, A. (2006). Law and justice in the courts of classical Athens.
    • Lynch, V. (2006). Forensic nursing.
    • National Institute of Justice. (2003). DNA evidence: What law enforcement officers should know.
    • Souryal, S. S. (2007). Ethics in criminal justice: In search of the truth.
    • Spitz, W. U., Spitz, D., & Clark, R. (Eds.). (2006). Spitz and Fisher’s medicolegal investigation of death.
    • Sung Tz’u. The washing away of wrongs.
    • McKnight, B. E. (Trans.). (1981). The Washing Away of Wrongs (Ann Arbor, MI).