Traceology, criminalistics, and forensic science.
crime scene
criminalist
forensic science
generalist
historical science
physical record
specialist
technician
trace
traceologist
traceology
vestige
Journal
Journal of forensic sciences
ISSN: 1556-4029
Titre abrégé: J Forensic Sci
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0375370
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Jan 2022
Jan 2022
Historique:
revised:
26
07
2021
received:
16
05
2021
accepted:
02
08
2021
pubmed:
17
8
2021
medline:
17
8
2021
entrez:
16
8
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
There is a serious issue within the forensic science community, which even extends outside of the field. The role of the scientist in the investigation of crime has been increasingly confined to the laboratory, which has been accompanied by the conflation of the terms forensic science and criminalistics. This unfortunate situation has been festering for years. To make matters worse, the era of the proactive, problem-defining, criminalist (generalist) is waning, and possibly over. Present-day "criminalists" are treated as little more than reactive, protocol-constrained, laboratory technicians, with few, if any, consequential crime scene roles. In most cases, these "criminalists" merely respond to routine requests from prosecutors and police. The absence of science at the front end of forensic investigations, i.e., the scene, has resulted in biased, ineffective, inefficient, and/or erroneous outcomes with immediate and long-term societal impacts. To disentangle this imbroglio, we propose the use of another term, traceology, which has seen limited use worldwide except in the field of archaeology. With respect to criminalistics, this term has been previously proposed by Margot (20-21). Traceology is an historical science, dealing with the examination, analysis, and scientific interpretation of event traces (signs or remnants) of earlier activities. In this commentary, we define and redefine familiar, but ambiguous, terms and concepts with the hope of recapturing the essence of criminalistics (32), which we suggest is best termed traceology.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34396524
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14860
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
28-32Informations de copyright
© 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Références
Kirk PL. Standardization of criminological nomenclature. J Crim Law Criminol. 1947;38(2):165-7.
Bancroft-Whitney Company, The Lawyers Co-Operative Publishing Company. Qualification of criminalist. In: American jurisprudence, proof of facts, annotated. Vol. 14. Rochester, NY: Jurisprudence Publishers, Inc.; 1964. p. 319.
Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science. OSAC Lexicon. 2019. https://lexicon.forensicosac.org. Accessed 7 July 2021.
Forensic science. Merriam-Webster.com medical dictionary. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/forensic%20science. Accessed 6 March 2021.
Wekhrlin WL. Das graue ungeheuer [The grey monster], vol. 7. Nuremberg, Germany: Felsecker; 1786. p. 338.
Gutjahr KT. Strafe und bestrafung [Penalty and punishment]. Leipzig, Germany: Gottfried Martini; 1800. p. 266.
Musäus JKA. Physiognomische reisen. Viertes heft [Physiognomic travels. 4th Vol]. Altenburg, Germany: Richterschen Buchhandlung; 1788. p. 21.
Gross H. Handbuch für untersuchungsrichter als system der kriminalistik [Handbook for examining magistrates as the system of criminalistics], 3rd edn. Graz, Austria: Leuschner und Lubensky; 1899.
Burney I, Pemberton N. Making space for criminalistics: Hans Gross and fin-de-siècle CSI. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2013;44(1):16-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2012.09.002.
De Forest PR, Gaensslen RE, Lee HC. Forensic science: an introduction to criminalistics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1983. p. 4.
Kirk PL. Criminalistics at the crossroads. The Criminologist. 1969;4(11):35-42.
Margot PA, Söderman H. A great Pan-European criminalist, 1902-1956. Z Zagadnień Nauk Sądowych. 2002;50:122-34.
Trace, n.1. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 2021. www.oed.com/view/Entry/204174. Accessed 6 March 2021.
Frei-Sulzer M. Die sicherung von mikrospuren mit klebband [Securing microscopic traces with adhesive tape]. Kriminalistik. 1951;5(19/20):190-4.
European Network of Forensic Science Institutes [Internet]. ENFSI guideline for evaluative reporting in forensic science (approved version 3.0). 2016. https://enfsi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/m1_guideline.pdf. Accessed 6 March 2021.
Söderman H, O’Connell JJ. Modern criminal investigation. , 13th printing. edn. New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls Company; 1947.
Larsen C. Harry Söderman of Stockholm: Master criminologist. J Crim Law Criminol. 1952;43(1):95-102.
Buzzini P, Kammrath BW, De Forest PR. Trace evidence? The term trace from adjective to noun. WIREs Forensic Sci. 2019;1(5):e1342. https://doi.org/10.1002/wfs2.1342.
Eco U, Sebeok TA, editors. The sign of three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce. Bloomington, IN: University Press; 1983.
Margot PA. Traçologie: La trace, vecteur fondamental de la police scientifique [Traceology: The trace, the fundamental vector of forensic science]. Revue Internationale de Criminologie et de Police Technique et Scientifique. 2014;67(1):72-97.
Margot PA. Traceology, the bedrock of forensic science and its associated semantics. In: Rossy Q, Décary-Hétu D, Delémont O, Mulone M, editors. The Routledge international handbook of forensic intelligence and criminology. London, U.K.: Routledge; 2018. p. 30-9.
Margot PA. Forensic science on trial - What is the law of the land? Aust J Forensic Sci. 2011;43(2-3):89-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2011.555418.
Yakimov IN. Veŝestvennye dokazatelʹstva i sledy [Evidence and traces]. In: Vyshinsky AJ, editor. Kriminalistika: Rassledovanija tehnika i taktika ‘prestuplenij [Criminalistics: Investigation techniques and tactics of offenses]. Moscow, Russia: Yurid; 1938. p. 120-291.
Shevcenko BI. Naučnye osnovy sovremennoj traseologii [The scientific basis of modern traceology]. Moscow, Russia: publisher unknown; 1947.
Granovsky GL. Osnovy trasologii: Obŝaja častʹ [Basics of traceology: General part]. Moscow, Russia: VNIISE; 1965.
Belkin RS. Kurs kriminalistiki: v 3 tomah. Vol. 2, Častnye kriminalističeskie teorii [A course in criminalistics in 3 volumes. Volume 2, Common criminalistic theories]. Moscow, Russia: Jurist; 1997.
Jeffares B. Testing times: regularities in the historical sciences. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2008;39(4):469-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.09.003.
Cleland CE. Common cause explanation and the search for a smoking gun. In: Baker VR, editor. Rethinking the fabric of geology. Vol. 502. McLean, VA: Geological Society of America; 2013. p. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1130/2013.2502(01).
Cleland CE, Brindell S. Science and the messy, uncontrollable world of nature. In: Pigliucci M, Boudry M, editors. Philosophy of pseudoscience: Reconsidering the demarcation problem. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press; 2013. p. 183-202. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226051826.003.0011.
Fullagar R, Matheson C. Stone tool usewear and residue analysis. In: Smith C, editor. Encyclopedia of global archaeology. New York, NY: Springer; 2014. p. 7062-5. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_842.
Maîtrise universitaire ès Sciences (MSc) en analyse criminelle et traçologie [Master of Science (MSc) in crime analysis and traceology]. Université de Lausanne. https://www.unil.ch/esc/enseignement/masters/msc-tracologie-et-analyse-de-la-criminalite. Accessed 10 May 2021.
De Forest PR. Recapturing the essence of criminalistics. Sci Justice. 1999;39(3):196-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1355-0306(99)72047-2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). IUCN red list categories and criteria. Version 3.1, 2nd edn. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN; 2012. p. 14.
Ribaux O, Crispino F, Roux C. Forensic intelligence: deregulation or return to the roots of forensic science? Aust J Forensic Sci. 2015;47(1-2):61-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2014.906656.
Roux C, Ribaux O, Crispino F. Forensic science 2020 - The end of the crossroads? Aust J Forensic Sci. 2018;50(6):607-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2018.1485738.
Weyermann C, Roux C. A different perspective on the forensic science crisis. Forensic Sci Int. 2021;323: 110779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110779.