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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

  • 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.

  • Blinding as a Solution to Bias

    Strengthening Biomedical Science, Forensic Science, and Law
    • 1st Edition
    • Christopher T Robertson + 1 more
    • English
    What information should jurors have during court proceedings to render a just decision? Should politicians know who is donating money to their campaigns? Will scientists draw biased conclusions about drug efficacy when they know more about the patient or study population? The potential for bias in decision-making by physicians, lawyers, politicians, and scientists has been recognized for hundreds of years and drawn attention from media and scholars seeking to understand the role that conflicts of interests and other psychological processes play. However, commonly proposed solutions to biased decision-making, such as transparency (disclosing conflicts) or exclusion (avoiding conflicts) do not directly solve the underlying problem of bias and may have unintended consequences. Robertson and Kesselheim bring together a renowned group of interdisciplinary scholars to consider another way to reduce the risk of biased decision-making: blinding. What are the advantages and limitations of blinding? How can we quantify the biases in unblinded research? Can we develop new ways to blind decision-makers? What are the ethical problems with withholding information from decision-makers in the course of blinding? How can blinding be adapted to legal and scientific procedures and in institutions not previously open to this approach? Fundamentally, these sorts of questions—about who needs to know what—open new doors of inquiry for the design of scientific research studies, regulatory institutions, and courts. The volume surveys the theory, practice, and future of blinding, drawing upon leading authors with a diverse range of methodologies and areas of expertise, including forensic sciences, medicine, law, philosophy, economics, psychology, sociology, and statistics.

  • 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.

  • Identifying Ignitable Liquids in Fire Debris

    A Guideline for Forensic Experts
    • 1st Edition
    • Jeanet Hendrikse + 2 more
    • English
    Identifying Ignitable Liquids in Fire Debris: A Guideline for Forensic Experts discusses and illustrates the characteristics of different ignitable liquid products. This guideline builds on the minimum criteria of the ignitable liquid classes defined in the internationally accepted standard ASTM E1618 Standard Test Method for Ignitable Liquid Residues in Extracts from Fire Debris Samples by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The volume provides information on the origin of the characteristics of these ignitable liquid products and provides a summary of characteristics to demonstrate a positive identification of the particular product class. Topics such as the term ignitable liquid, relevant guidelines for fire debris analysis, production processes of ignitable liquids, fire debris analysis methods, and interferences in fire debris analysis, are briefly discussed as these topics are essential for the understanding of the identification and classification of ignitable liquid residues in fire debris.

  • 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.

  • Anabolic Steroid Abuse in Public Safety Personnel

    A Forensic Manual
    • 1st Edition
    • Brent E. Turvey + 1 more
    • English
    Anabolic Steroid Abuse in Public Safety Personnel: A Forensic Manual provides readers with information on both the history and overwhelming evidence relating to steroid abuse in the law enforcement subculture. The text raises awareness regarding the pervasiveness of the problem that has grown into a systemic and nationwide phenomenon, and then addresses the consequences of anabolic steroid abuse on individual health, agency liability, and public safety. Particular attention is paid to forensic issues, including investigative, evidentiary, and legal concerns, facilitating just and lawful outcomes when these crimes are suspected or exposed.

  • Misleading DNA Evidence

    Reasons for Miscarriages of Justice
    • 1st Edition
    • Peter Gill
    • English
    Misleading DNA Evidence: A Guide for Scientists, Judges, and Lawyers presents the reasons miscarriages of justice can occur when dealing with DNA, what the role of the forensic scientist is throughout the process, and how judges and lawyers can educate themselves about all of the possibilities to consider when dealing with cases that involve DNA evidence. DNA has become the gold standard by which a person can be placed at the scene of a crime, and the past decade has seen great advances in this powerful crime solving tool. But the statistics that analysts can attach to DNA evidence often vary, and in some cases the statistical weight assigned to that match, can vary enormously. The numbers provided to juries often overstate the evidence, and can result in a wrongful conviction. In addition to statistics, the way the evidence is collected, stored and analyzed can also result in a wrongful conviction due to contamination. This book reviews high-profile and somewhat contentious cases to illustrate these points, including the death of Meredith Kercher. It examines crucial topics such as characterization of errors and determination of error rates, reporting DNA profiles and the source and sub-source levels, and the essentials of statement writing. It is a concise, readable resource that will help not only scientists, but legal professionals with limited scientific backgrounds, to understand the intricacies of DNA use in the justice system.

  • The Criminal's Image of the City

    Pergamon Policy Studies on Crime and Justice
    • 1st Edition
    • Ronald L. Carter + 1 more
    • English
    The Criminal’s Image of the City focuses on the factors influencing the increase in crimes in cities, taking into consideration the behavior patterns of criminals. The manuscript first details approaches on the spatial and environmental analyses of crimes. The text then takes a look at the conceptual framework needed in understanding the spatial activity of criminals through their environmental perceptions. Considerations include criminals’ evaluation of their environments, distinguishing property crime and property criminals, and offender and non-offender samples. The publication examines how criminals perceive the different areas of cities and how they assess such areas as targets for the commission of crimes. The text also reviews the relationship of public policy and criminal behavior with area images, including approaches to crime prevention, crime and environmental design, predicting locales for crime, relationship between images and behavior, and implementation problems. The book is a useful reference for readers wanting to dig deeper into the behavior of criminals.

  • 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.

  • Kidnapping

    An Investigator’s Guide
    • 2nd Edition
    • Diana M. Concannon
    • English
    Kidnapping: An Investigator's Guide to Profiling is based on a three-part analysis of 100 randomly selected kidnapping cases prosecuted in the United States that have survived Supreme Court appeal. The results of the analysis are incorporated into each chapter as part of the exploration of the inductive profile of each kidnapping subtype, thereby offering a statistically based tool that can inform investigative strategies and the allocation of limited resources. The analysis includes standardized input from four levels of professional law enforcement including a forensic psychologist, a crime analyst, a detective, and a city prosecutor. In addition to chapters pertaining to the kidnapping subtypes – Domestic Kidnapping, Predatory Kidnapping-Adult Victim, Predatory Kidnapping-Child Victim, Profit Kidnapping, Revenge Kidnapping, Staged Kidnapping, and Political Kidnapping - an introductory chapter is dedicated to the evolution of U.S. kidnapping law and intervention strategies, including a review of relevant case law (Megan's Law, Amber Alert). Appendices include a concise summary of all the subtypes and Tabletop Drills that law enforcement can use to support potential kidnapping victims prepare and better respond to a kidnapping threat. The second edition also includes a discussion of the relationship between kidnapping and human trafficking, as well as a new Appendix focused upon effective interview strategies with the victim-witness.

  • Forensic Fraud

    Evaluating Law Enforcement and Forensic Science Cultures in the Context of Examiner Misconduct
    • 1st Edition
    • Brent E. Turvey
    • English
    Forensic Fraud is the culmination of 12 years of research by author Brent E. Turvey. A practicing forensic scientist since 1996, Turvey has rendered this first of its kind study into the widespread problem of forensic fraud in the United States. It defines the nature and scope of the problem, the cultural attitudes and beliefs of those involved, and establishes clear systemic contributors. Backed up by scrupulous research and hard data, community reforms are proposed and discussed in light of the recently published National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science. An adaptation of Dr. Turvey’s doctoral dissertation, this volume relentlessly cites chapter and verse in support of its conclusions that law enforcement cultural and scientific values are incompatible, and that the problem of forensic fraud is systemic in nature. It begins with an overview of forensic fraud as a sub-type of occupational fraud, it explores the extent of fraud in both law enforcement and scientific employment settings, it establishes and then contrasts the core values of law enforcement and scientific cultures and then it provides a comprehensive review of the scientific literature regarding forensic fraud. The final chapters present data from Dr. Turvey’s original research into more than 100 fraudulent examiners between 2000 and 2010, consideration of significant findings, and a review of proposed reforms to the forensic science community based on what was learned. It closes with a chapter on the numerous crime lab scandals, and closures that occurred between 2010 and 2012 – an update on the deteriorating state of the forensic science community in the United States subsequent to data collection efforts in the present research. Forensic Fraud is intended for use as a professional reference manual by those working in the criminal system who encounter the phenomenon and want to understand its context and origins. It is intended to help forensic scientist and their supervisors to recognize, manage and expel it; to provide policy makers with the necessary understaffing for acknowledging and mitigating it; and to provide agents of the courts with the knowledge, and confidence, to adjudicate it. It is also useful for those at the university level seeking a strong secondary text for courses on forensic science, law and evidence, or miscarriages of justice.

  • Principles of Addictions and the Law

    Applications in Forensic, Mental Health, and Medical Practice
    • 1st Edition
    • Norman S. Miller
    • English
    The book includes an examination of sources of law important to addiction and its treatment. The foundations for forensic work in professional legal testimony is explored (e.g., legal system, case law precedent, statutes governing addictions, civil and criminal procedures). The science of addiction is featured including the biology of addiction, addiction as a brain disease, responsibility vs. loss of control, development of addictions, and the role of genetics and environment. Drug testing, its uses with forensic populations, what the tests show and do not show, controversies in using tests in the general population also receives extensive treatment. Addiction and mental illness in forensic populations is highlighted for addiction treatment and continuing care. Case studies and landmark cases illustrate the role of alcohol, drug use, and addictions in legal decisions.

  • 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.