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Elsevier

Books in Forensics

Our Forensic Science titles are essential reading for students and professionals, and cover a range of foundational and advanced topics across forensic pathology, forensic chemistry, forensic serology, forensic victimology, forensic toxicology, forensic anthropology, and forensic testing, among others

  • Forensic Taphonomy and Ecology of North American Scavengers

    • 1st Edition
    • Susan N. Sincerbox + 1 more
    • English
    Forensic Taphonomy and Ecology of North American Scavengers compiles research on vertebrate scavenging behavior from numerous academic fields, including ecology and forensic anthropology. Scavenging behavior can displace remains from their depositional context, confound postmortem interval estimation, destroy osteological markers, and inflict damage that mimics or disguises perimortem trauma. Consequently, the actions of vertebrate scavengers can significantly impact the medicolegal investigation of human remains. It is therefore critical when interpreting a death scene and its associated evidence that scavenging be recognized and the possible effects of scavenging behavior considered. This book is an ideal reference for both students and medicolegal professionals, serving as a field manual for the identification of common scavenging species known to modify human remains in North America. In addition, this book presents a framework to guide investigators in optimizing their approach to scavenged cases, promoting more complete recovery of human remains and the accuracy of forensic reconstructions of peri- and postmortem events.

  • New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification

    • 1st Edition
    • Krista E. Latham + 2 more
    • English
    New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification provides a comprehensive and up-to-date perspective on human identification methods in forensic anthropology. Divided into four distinct sections, the chapters will reflect recent advances in human skeletal identification, including statistical and morphometric methods for assessing the biological profile (sex, age, ancestry, stature), biochemical methods of identification (DNA analysis, stable isotope analysis, bomb curve analysis), and use of comparative radiography. The final section of this book highlights advances in human identification techniques that are being applied to international populations and disaster victims. The contributing authors represent established experts in forensic anthropology and closely related fields. New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification will be an essential resource for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students interested in state-of-the-art methods for human identification.

  • Forensic Anthropology

    • 1st Edition
    • Max M. Houck
    • English
    Forensic Anthropology serves as a graduate level text for those studying and teaching forensic anthropology, as well as an excellent reference for forensic anthropologist libraries or for use in casework. Covers taphonomy, recovery and analysis, identification, statistical interpretation, and professional issues. Edited by a world-renowned leading forensic expert, the Advanced Forensic Science Series grew out of the recommendations from the 2009 NAS Report, Strengthening Forensic Science: A Path Forward, and is a long overdue solution for the forensic science community.

  • Biological Distance Analysis

    Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives
    • 1st Edition
    • Marin A. Pilloud + 1 more
    • English
    Biological Distance Analysis: Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives synthesizes research within the realm of biological distance analysis, highlighting current work within the field and discussing future directions. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section clearly outlines datasets and methods within biological distance analysis, beginning with a brief history of the field and how it has progressed to its current state. The second section focuses on approaches using the individual within a forensic context, including ancestry estimation and case studies. The final section concentrates on population-based bioarchaeological approaches, providing key techniques and examples from archaeological samples. The volume also includes an appendix with additional resources available to those interested in biological distance analyses.

  • Forensic Polymer Engineering

    Why Polymer Products Fail in Service
    • 2nd Edition
    • Peter Rhys Lewis
    • English
    Forensic Polymer Engineering: Why Polymer Products Fail in Service, Second Edition presents and explains the latest forensic engineering techniques used in the investigation of failed polymer materials that are illustrated with a very large number of detailed case studies which show the different types of failure and the forensic engineering techniques used in their investigation. In this updated edition, new case studies have been added to include patent disputes and failed products such as spiral wound wall storage tanks, lithium battery explosions, water bottle failures, and breast implant failures (such as the PIP scandal). New images demonstrating failure have been included, and images from the previous edition are reproduced in color and enhanced with additional explanatory detail. With a dedicated focus on polymeric materials, the book includes details on the experimental techniques that are used to characterize the materials, particularly in cases of failure. Finally, the book has information on the fabrication of polymer devices, as manufacturing flaws often play a role in failure.

  • Human Body Decomposition

    • 1st Edition
    • Jarvis Hayman + 1 more
    • English
    The fate of the human body after death is a subject that has fascinated enquirers, both in the scientific and legal realms for millennia. However, objective research into the causes and nature of human decomposition has only taken place in the last two centuries, and quantitative measurement of the process as a means of estimating the time of death has only recently been attempted. The substantial literature concerning this research has been published in numerous scientific journals since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Human Body Decomposition expands on the current literature to include the evolving research on estimating the time of death. This volume details the process of decomposition to include early period after death when the body cools to ambient temperature, and when the body begins to putrefy. This process is significant because the estimation of the time of death becomes increasingly more difficult when the body begins to putrefy.Human Body Decomposition compiles a chronological account of research into the estimation of the time since death in human bodies found decomposed in order that researchers in the subject field can concentrate their thoughts and build on what has been achieved in the past.

  • Behavioral Evidence Analysis

    International Forensic Practice and Protocols
    • 1st Edition
    • Brent E. Turvey + 1 more
    • English
    The criminal profiling community can easily be split into two separate groups: those that have written criminalprofiles and those that have not. It is an important distinction, because report writing is one of the mostimportant requirements of good scientific practice. The process of writing up findings helps to reveal flaws inan examiner’s logic so that they can be amended or revisited; the final report memorializes findings and theirunderlying basis at a fixed point in time; and as a document a forensic report provides the best mechanism fortransparency and peer review. The problem is that many criminal profilers have not written criminal profiles,and still more prefer that this remain the case, often to conceal their lack of methodology. The contributors to this volume have travelled the world for more than a decade to lecture on the subjects ofcrime scene analysis and criminal profiling. The result has been a steady stream of requests from educationalinstituti... and government agencies alike to teach the application of criminal profiling theory. Everyonehas read the books, everyone has attended the lecture; but few have experience with hands on practice andapplication. In other words, there is a growing number of serious professionals who want to know how to puttheory into practice and then learn what it means to put their findings into written form. Behavioral Evidence Analysis: International Forensic Practice and Protocols has been written as a companiontext to Turvey’s Criminal Profiling, now in its fourth edition. It is meant to provide the legion of instructors thatare teaching criminal profiling as a subject with real world examples of case reports. It is also meant to serveas a desk reference for professionals that are writing crime scene analysis and criminal profiling reports, toenable sampling of structure, terminology, and references.

  • Latent Print Processing Guide

    • 1st Edition
    • Stephen P. Kasper
    • English
    Latent prints are chance or accidental impressions left by friction-ridge skin on a surface, regardless of whether they are visible or invisible at the time of deposition. Recognition of evidence that may contain fingerprints and the processes that can develop these latent prints is crucial in preventing valuable evidence from being left undetected. Latent Print Processing Guide goes beyond the basic police training, covering latent prints in detail and providing first responders with adequate training and guidelines. To process latent prints, examiners use various techniques including electronic, chemical, cyanoacrylate, and physical methods. Latent Print Processing Guide offers a broad understanding of latent print detection, development, and recovery, including insights on stateof-the-art technologies.

  • Fundamentals of Polygraph Practice

    • 1st Edition
    • Donald Krapohl + 1 more
    • English
    Though polygraph has been the mainstay for government and police departments since World War II, it has undergone substantial transformation in recent years. Fundamentals of Polygraph Practice bridges the gap between the outmoded practices and today’s validated testing and analysis protocols. The goal of this reference is to thoroughly and concisely describe the evidence-based practices of polygraphy. Coverage will include: psychophysiology, testing techniques, data collection, data analysis, ethics, polygraph law, alternate technologies and much more. This text addresses the foundational needs of polygraph students, and is written to be useful and accessible to attorneys, forensic scientists, consumers of polygraph services, and the general public.

  • Miscarriages of Justice

    Actual Innocence, Forensic Evidence, and the Law
    • 1st Edition
    • Brent E. Turvey + 1 more
    • English
    Miscarriages of justice are a regular occurrence in the criminal justice system, which is characterized by government agencies that are understaffed, underfunded, and undertrained across the board. We know this because, every week, DNA testing and innocence projects across the United States help to identify and eventually overturn wrongful convictions. As a result, the exonerated go free and the stage is set for addressing criminal and civil liability. Criminal justice students and professionals therefore have a need to be made aware of the miscarriage problem as a threshold issue. They need to know what a miscarriage of justice looks like, how to recognize it's many forms, and what their duty of care might be in terms of prevention. They also need to appreciate that identifying miscarriages, and ensuring legal remedy, is an important function of the system that must be honored by all criminal justice professionals. The purpose of this textbook is to move beyond the law review, casebook, and true crime publications that comprise the majority of miscarriage literature. While informative, they are not designed for teaching students in a classroom setting. This text is written for use at the undergraduate level in journalism, sociology, criminology and criminal justice programs - to introduce college students to the miscarriage phenomenon in a structured fashion. The language is more broadly accessible than can be found in legal texts, and the coverage is multidisciplinary. Miscarriages of Justice: Actual Innocence, Forensic Evidence, and the Law focuses on the variety of miscarriages issues in the United States legal system. Written by leaders in the field, it is particularly valuable to forensic scientists and attorneys evaluating evidence or preparing for trial or appeal in cases where faulty evidence features prominently. It is also of value to those interested in developing arguments for miscarriage in post-conviction review of criminal cases. Chapters focus specifically on issues of law enforcement bias and corruption; false confessions; ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct; forensic fraud; and more. The book closes by examining innocence projects and commissions, and civil remedies for the wrongfully convicted.This text ultimately presents the issue of miscarriages as a systemic and multi-disciplinary criminal justice issue. It provides perspectives from within the professional CJ community, and it serves as warning to future professionals about the dangers and consequences of apathy, incompetence, and neglect. Consequently, it can be used by any CJ educator to introduce any group of CJ students to the problem.

  • Forensic Testimony

    Science, Law and Expert Evidence
    • 1st Edition
    • C. Michael Bowers
    • English
    Forensic Testimony: Science, Law and Expert Evidence—favored with an Honorable Mention in Law & Legal Studies at the Association of American Publishers' 2015 PROSE Awards—provides a clear and intuitive discussion of the legal presentation of expert testimony. The book delves into the effects, processes, and battles that occur in the presentation of opinion and scientific evidence by court-accepted forensic experts. It provides a timely review of the United States Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) regarding expert testimony, and includes a multi-disciplinary look at the strengths and weaknesses in forensic science courtroom testimony. The statutes and the effects of judicial uses (or non-use) of the FRE, Daubert, Kumho, and the 2009 NAS Report on Forensic Science are also included. The presentation expands to study case law, legal opinions, and studies on the reliability and pitfalls of forensic expertise in the US court system. This book is an essential reference for anyone preparing to give expert testimony of forensic evidence.

  • Profiling and Serial Crime

    Theoretical and Practical Issues
    • 3rd Edition
    • Wayne Petherick
    • English
    Profiling and Serial Crime examines the principles of behavioral profiling and then applies them to serial crime. This book is a completely revised and updated edition of an excellent text on behavioral profiling and serial crime. It provides a theoretical and practical foundation for understanding the motivation and dynamics in a range of serial offenses. Part I of the book deals with the history, crucial issues, methods, theory, and treatment in the mainstream media. Part II discusses serial crime in detail, including bullying, stalking, rape, murder, and arson. The title of this edition reflects the focus on profiling as well as serial crime and has been updated throughout with the latest research. New to this edition are five all-new chapters, including serial harassment and cyber-bullying and the motivations of victim and offender; two replacement chapters on serial rape and serial arson; enhanced pedagogy to keep students focused on what’s important; and new ancillary materials for both instructor and student. The book consists of ancillary online materials for instructors and students, including lecture slides, test bank and case studies. Numerous case examples are included to show the real world uses of behavioral profiling in investigations. This book will appeal to professionals and students in criminal justice and forensic psychology programs, as well as those taking courses in criminal profiling, especially courses on serial crime.

  • Introduction to Forensic Psychology

    Issues and Controversies in Crime and Justice
    • 1st Edition
    • Bruce A. Arrigo
    • English
    Introduction to Forensic Psychology is an original approach to understanding how psychologists impact the research, practice, and policy of crime, law, and justice. Written specifically for students, lay professionals, and practitioners, the text systematically examines police, court, and correctional aspects of forensic psychology. By further subdividing the text into the adult, juvenile, family, and civil components of forensic psychology, the author brings interdependence and overlap among these dimensions and the three broad thematic areas themselves into sharp, clear, and compelling focus. Contained within each of the 12 substantive chapters are series of timely issues or controversies that provocatively capture the significance of these relationships. Selected topics include incarceration of the mentally ill, the police as mediators in prison, competency to stand trial, treatment refusal rights, police stress and suicide, and sex offender treatment.Introducti... to Forensic Psychology: Issues and Controversies in Crime and Justice presents the debates about psychology, crime, law, and the intersections in an accessible, jargon-free fashion. It is a cross-disciplinary text relevant to the fields of psychology, law, criminal justice, social work, and public policy.