The need for the standardization of forensic anthropological case reporting practices in the United States

Case reports in forensic anthropology include information from anthropologists to provide assistance and expertise to medicolegal entities, helping to aid in investigations. This may include information to assist with identification, determining the cause or manner of death, or with other circumstances involving a deceased individual. However, within forensic anthropology there remains no unifying standardization for writing a case report which can be used by any forensic anthropologist, independent of work environment, education, or circumstance. While some standards do exist, which are commonly utilized within the field (i.e., the Daubert standard, OSAC best practice guidelines, etc.), they do not provide a significant, unifying standard. In order to explore whether a lack of standardization is problematic in forensic anthropology, a survey was conducted asking forensic anthropologists who work on cases and who create case reports about their reporting practices, the standards they follow and are familiar with, and their personal experiences regarding education and overall practices when creating case reports. The survey was taken by 106 respondents from various backgrounds, education levels, and work contexts. Overall, there were multiple areas of agreement amongst respondents, which suggests an unofficial standardization that exists within the field. However, other areas, such as cognitive bias, terminology, and education and training experiences varied significantly amongst respondents. While some areas of forensic anthropology may appear to be standardized, there is still significant variation in key areas that needs to be addressed. The findings from this study suggest that an overarching standardization for report writing should be created to provide a reference for all forensic anthropologists, regardless of work context and educational background and further research into how to best standardize the field in a way that is amenable to all.

Author dc:creator

• Paradis, Alexandra Lynn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tallman, Sean D.

• Forensic anthropology

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2144/51806

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.bu.edu:2144/51806