Sex estimation from the mastoid process among North Indians

Determination of sex from fragmentary crania is a critical problem in forensic anthropology. Osteometric analysis of mastoid can serve forensic anthropologists better in sex identification by virtue of the noticeable dimorphic characteristics. The present study aims to develop population-specific, sex-differentiating anthropometric standards for the mastoid process of North Indian skulls. Eight parameters of the mastoid region were measured on 138 adult crania (M/F 104:34, 22-65 years) and analyzed using SPSS 16.0. All parameters showed significant sexual dimorphism (p < 0.000). In stepwise analysis, asterion-mastoidale and mastoid breadth have provided an accuracy of 87%. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained for each variable to observe their overall performance in sex determination. Posterior end of incisura mastoidea-depression of suprameatal triangle was found to be the best variable with maximum area under curve and highest predictive accuracy (82.6%).     

Gatekeeping by Allegations: An Examination of Verified,Unfounded, and Fabricated Allegations of Child Maltreatment Within the Context of Resist and Refusal Dynamics

Allegations of child maltreatment and neglect, including child sexual abuse, in the context of child custody disputes pose particular challenges for child protection services, family law professionals and the courts to identify children at risk of harm, as well as children impacted and exposed to other risk factors. Accurately identifying child maltreatment requires assessing the background, the history and the context of the allegations in order to differentiate confirmed, unfounded, and fabricated allegations. The paper provides a review of the history and current understanding of allegations within the context of child custody disputes by considering the connections of fabricated allegations to the theory of alienation and the role of gatekeeping. The paper then examines the social science literature regarding allegations within child protection investigations (the prevalence, types of maltreatment, reporter of allegations, and case outcomes) and explores the factors that have contributed to the challenges faced by child protection services to investigate and make determinations regarding allegations within the context of child custody disputes. We argue for early assessment protocols for child protection services to screen child custody cases, to differentiate allegations of alienation from other types of harm, to enhance role clarity in these volatile situations, to refrain from “taking sides” and to work collaboratively with the family law community. Lastly, we offer legal implications to improve collaboration between child protection services and the family law field to better respond to these complex cases.     

Convenient and Inconvenient Truths in Family Law: Preventing Scholar‐Advocacy Bias in the Use of Social Science Research for Public Policy

This is the second of two articles on the risks of advocacy bias in the reporting of research findings when boundaries are blurred between social science research and advocacy in the pursuit of public policy. In the first article we identify common ways in which social science researchers and reviewers of research—wittingly or unwittingly—can become advocates for ideological positions and social policies at the expense of being balanced reporters of research evidence. The first article discusses the difference between truth in social science and truth in law and identifies a range of scholar‐advocacy strategies that bias research evidence, illustrated by recent debates about overnight parenting of infants and toddlers. In this second article we show how biased research evidence by scholar advocates results in increased confusion and controversy that diminishes the credibility of all parties and stalemates progress in the field, using a case illustration of intimate partner violence in family court. We also show how adherence to scientific methods prevents the misuse of research and suggest a number of collaborative, integrative measures that can help transcend the adversarial stalemate. In a look to the future we consider some unbiased, standardized ways of assessing the strength and generalizability of research evidence.     

Adaptive and Maladaptive Gatekeeping Behaviors and Attitudes: Implications for Child Outcomes After Separation and Divorce

Gatekeeping has been used as a theory and a measure to describe and assess family dynamics within the context of separation and divorce. In this article, we explore adaptive and maladaptive gatekeeping behaviors and attitudes that can affect the other parent's relationship with the child. Implications are presented for connecting adaptive and maladaptive gatekeeping responses to child outcomes of safety, well‐being, and positive parent–child relationships following separation and divorce. We build on the recent attention to gatekeeping as a potential framework within the child custody context.     

Determining the sequence of intersecting gel pen and laser printed strokes — A comparative study

The relative chronological sequence of intersecting gel pen ink lines and laser printed marks has been determined using optical methods. The results were obtained by observing spectral reflection, relative sheen, skipping and gaps of gel pen ink strokes at the point of intersection. The intersections are observed under stereomicroscope and digital microscope. The effectiveness of both the optical instruments for sequence of the strokes has been compared. The sequence of intersecting lines (of same colour, different colours and where one of the strokes is darker) has been established.     

Mandibular ramus: an indicator for sex in fragmentary mandible

Mandible is the hardest and most durable bone of the skull exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Especially ramus of mandible is subjected to greater stress than any other bone of the skull because of the process of mastication. This study has been performed to establish the osteometric standards for practical use in forensic context over Indian population using mandibular ramus. The sample consists of 116 mandibles of Northern Indian population (M:F; 92:24, mean age 37.4 years), collected from the Department of Forensic Medicine, IMS, BHU, Varanasi. Osteometric informations about five metric parameters (coronoid height, projective height, condylar height, and maximum breadth and minimum breadth of ramus) were taken with sliding calipers. These parameters were subjected to different discriminant function analysis using SPSS 16.0. All parameters showed significant sexual dimorphism (p < 0.001 in all cases) with an overall accuracy of 80.2%, and coronoid height was the single best parameter providing an accuracy of 74.1%.     

Application of Video Spectral Comparator (absorption spectra) for establishing the chronological order of intersecting printed strokes and writing pen strokes

The sequence of intersecting strokes of laser printers (black, blue, red and green) and typewriter ink (black) with the strokes of gel pen ink, ballpoint pen ink and fountain pen ink (black, blue, red and green) has been determined by studying their absorption spectra. The absorption spectra have been generated for each of the two pure inks (i.e. A and B) and points of their intersections (i.e. A over B and B over A) by using Video Spectral Comparator (VSC-2000-HR). The study was carried out with an assumption that the peak characteristics of spectra from the point of intersection should correspond to the peak characteristics of pure ink which was executed later. It was observed that the absorption spectrum of intersection corresponds with either the laser printer or the typewriter ink stroke, whether these strokes were executed earlier or later than the writing instrument strokes. As the results obtained from the study were negative, the FDEs are advised against the practice of this technique in the examination of the sequence of intersecting strokes for these specified inks.