Anthropology
Forensic anthropologists work with skeletal remains. They identify bones as being human or animal. If animal, they determine the species. If human, they determine from what part of the body the bone originated. If they have the right bones, gender can be determined. Sometimes age can be approximated, and racial characteristics determined; even socioeconomic status may be estimated. If there is an injury to a skeleton or major bones, the anthropologist can help determine the cause of the injury or even death. Forensic anthropologists do other things besides identifying bones. They also work closely with skulls. It is possible to literally build a face onto a skull, using clay and wooden or plastic pegs of various sizes. Using charts that give average tissue depth figures for various parts of a face, an anthropologist constructs a face and then makes judgments as to eye, nose, and mouth characteristics. Facial reconstruction can be useful in helping to identify a missing person from the face built up on the recovered skull.
Engineering Forensic engineers can be valuable in cases where something has gone wrong with a mechanical or structural entity or in cases of automobile crashes. A few years ago, a balcony collapsed in the lobby of a hotel in Kansas City. Many people were on the balcony at the time, watching a rock concert going on in the lobby several stories below. Questions arose about why the balcony collapsed. Forensic engineers were called in to examine the structural remains of the balcony and the concrete that fell. They concluded that the construction of the balcony was faulty and contributed to its failure. Failure analysis is one of the major contributions that forensic engineers make to the justice system. The majority of the work of forensic engineers is in the investigation of traffic crashes. Accident reconstruction is used to determine speeds, directions of impact, and who was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. Insurance companies and police departments use forensic engineers quite extensively in traffic incident investigation.
Entomology When a person dies and the body is exposed to the elements, who gets there first? Not witnesses or detectives: it is flies, usually blowflies. During the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh were convicted of the bombing), bodies were buried in the tons of rubble from the collapsed building. Investigators literally followed the flies into the rubble and were able to locate some bodies this way. Flies and other insects lay their eggs in decaying flesh. Different insects do this at different times. Other insects such as beetles and wasps will attack and feed off the insects and the eggs. Depending upon temperature and other environmental factors, this parade of visitors takes place at surprisingly consistent time intervals. By inspecting the corpse, forensic entomologists can give a pretty good estimate of the postmortem interval, that is, whether the body has been there for many hours or several days.
7. Согласитесь или опровергните утверждения, используя ту или иную речевую модель.
Models: a) I fully agree with the statement. b) I am afraid, I can’t agree with it.
1. Forensic science means science applied to criminal and civil law. 2. Criminalistics refers to the many types of physical evidence generated by crime scenes. 3. Criminalistics excludes fire and explosive residues. 4. The forensic pathologist is a medical doctor who has specialized in forensic psychology and psychiatry. 5. The cause of death is the type of death. 6. If anthropologists have the right bones, gender can be determined. 7. An anthropologist constructs a face and then makes judgments as to the appearance of the person. 8. The majority of the work of forensic engineers is in the investigation of the cases of environmental pollution. 9. By inspecting the corpse, forensic entomologists can give a pretty good reason of the death.
8. Выпишите из текста ключевые слова, описывающие каждую из областей судебной экспертизы. Используя выписанные слова, составьте определения каждого научного направления. 1. Criminalistics - fingerprints, questioned documents,___________________ 2. Pathology - dead bodies, autopsies,_________________________________ 3. Anthropology - skeletal remains,___________________________________ 4. Engineering - a mechanical or structural entity, _______________________ 5. Entomology - flies, blowflies, _____________________________________
9. Работа в парах. Прочитайте дефиниции термина «Судебная наука». Выберите то, которое, по Вашему мнению, наиболее точно и в соответствующем объеме объясняет суть понятия. Представьте в аудитории обоснования своей точки зрения.
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