GrinLine Identification Using Digital Imaging and Adobe Photoshop*

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to outline a method by which an antemortem photograph of a victim can be critically compared with a postmortem photograph in an effort to facilitate the identification process. Ten subjects, between 27 and 55 years old provided historical pictures of themselves exhibiting a broad smile showing anterior teeth to some extent (a grin). These photos were termed “antemortem” for the purpose of the study. A digital camera was used to take a current photo of each subject’s grin. These photos represented the “postmortem” images. A single subject’s “postmortem” photo set was randomly selected to be the “unknown victim.” These combined data of the unknown and the 10 antemortem subjects were digitally stored and, using Adobe Photoshop software, the images were sized and oriented for comparative analysis. The goal was to devise a technique that could facilitate the accurate determination of which “antemortem” subject was the “unknown.” The generation of antemortem digital overlays of the teeth visible in a grin and the comparison of those overlays to the images of the postmortem dentition is the foundation of the technique. The comparisons made using the GrinLine Identification Technique may assist medical examiners and coroners in making identifications or exclusions.     

Onward and Upward: the Significance of Mentorship for Formerly Incarcerated Students and Academics

In the era of mass incarceration, millions of American citizens have been disenfranchised by the social stigma of a felony conviction. Mentorship of formerly incarcerated (FI) students by FI academics—many of whom identify with Convict Criminology (CC)—is slowly forging a pathway out of the social wasteland of past felony convictions. A common goal of CC is to help FI students and academics overcome the social and structural barriers that severely limit their life chances, as well as those of millions of FI citizens in the world’s largest prison system. In this article, three FI criminology faculty members focus on the vital importance of mentorship presented through individual autoethnographic writings. We emphasize four prominent narratives or themes: (1) common narratives of the role of mentorship: encouragement, inclusion, and social capital; (2) differing narratives of the role of mentorship; (3) common narratives of the role of mentorship: experiences of mentoring as activism and advocacy; and (4) common narratives of the role of mentorship in reducing professional fragility. We also consider other dynamics that might emerge in the mentor–mentee relationship involving FI individuals, including the complexities of “coming out” as FI and the fragility of FI identity in the academic world. We conclude with recommendations for future research on the role of mentorship for FI individuals and make suggestions for other areas of study for CC, more generally.

     

Increasing access to rural maternal health services in Zambia through demand-side interventions

This paper examines a demand-side intervention that significantly increased access to maternal health services in rural Zambia in a context where skilled birth attendance rates had been stagnant for over two decades. Aspects of the intervention design that were crucial to the programme's success were the participatory and adult learning-centred approach used to mobilise intervention communities, the use of a community volunteer model, and the design's sensitivity and responsiveness to underlying social factors and problems. The demand-side intervention is already being scaled up in six districts, and is highly suitable for national level scale-up.     

AGENDA SETTING, PUBLIC POLICY, AND MINORITY GROUP INFLUENCE: AN INTRODUCTION1

The question of where policy issues originate and gain attention is an important one, particularly when issues of concern of minority communities are at stake. Yet the literature on the impact of minority groups in the agenda setting process is virtually nonexistent. This introductory article sets the context for the symposium on "Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Minority Group Influence" by raising several theoretical and contextual questions about the utility of the extant agenda setting literature as a paradigm for understanding minority group influence on the agenda setting process.