Estimation of Living Stature from Selected Anthropometric (Soft Tissue) Measurements: Applications for Forensic Anthropology

Abstract:  Estimation of living stature has obvious utility in the identification process. Typically, anthropologists estimate stature from the measurement of long bone length. This type of analysis is traditionally conducted on skeletonized or badly decomposed remains, so collection of the necessary bone measurements is relatively simple. As the role of anthropologists expands into medical examiner offices and mass fatality incidents, the analysis of fleshed bodies and body parts is a more common scenario. For stature estimation in these types of cases (e.g., analysis of body portions recovered from an aircraft crash site or from intentional dismemberment), the presence of soft tissue on the human remains would usually necessitate dissection to expose skeletal elements to derive metric data for stature estimation. In order to circumvent this step, this paper provides various formulae that allow for standard anthropometric (i.e., soft tissue) measurements to be used in place of skeletal measurements. Data were compiled from several anthropometric studies (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES] and U.S. Army Anthropometric Survey [ANSUR]) and numerous regression models are presented. Results are compared between skeletal measurements and the anthropometric measurements from each study. It was found that the ANSUR models are similar to the skeletal models, while the NHANES models exhibit weaker correlation coefficients and higher standard errors. Overall, this study finds that stature estimates derived from anthropometric data provide good results and remove the necessity for dissection when working with fleshed body portions.     

The end of organised crime in the European Union

So much has been written—and vigorously contested—about ‘organised crime’ (OC) that the impending fall of this familiar icon may come as a shock, both to its detractors and to those who take it for granted. Yet that moment may be upon us, for reasons that this paper will explore, as the European Union shifts the vocabulary within which policies on police cooperation are articulated. A pivot of this change is the EU Council Decision on Europol, first debated by the Council in late 2006 and anticipated as applying from 2010 onwards. This will shift the scope of Europol’s work from ‘organised crime’ (attributing qualities to criminality) to ‘serious crime’ (concern with impacts and harms falling on individual and collective victims); will transfer financing of Europol to the Community budget; and so will initiate parliamentary scrutiny. These issues in security governance are explored from ‘northern’, ‘southern’ and ‘eastern’ European perspectives and in the contexts of ongoing enlargement and democratisation of the EU.

---

What police want from liquor licensing legislation: the Australian perspective

Qualitative interviews were undertaken with 53 Australian police officers with specialist expertise in liquor law enforcement to ascertain their perspectives concerning the liquor licensing legislation in Australia’s eight states and territories. Respondents generally indicated that current arrangements favoured the interests of the alcohol industry and did not sufficiently empower them to reduce alcohol-related harms. Other key themes included: ambiguity surrounding the police role in liquor licensing; difficulties in enforcing drunkenness-related offences; partnerships; strategies to enhance enforcement; data/intelligence gathering; and the separation of Ministerial responsibilities for liquor licensing and policing. Overall, police in Australia are not currently being given the tools they require to effectively reduce alcohol-related harms.     

Overview of: “The Impact of Drug Market Pulling Levers Policing on Neighborhood Violence: An Evaluation of the High Point Drug Market Intervention”

Research Summary Pulling levers policing draws upon the focused deterrence framework, which has shown considerable promise when directed at youth, gun, and gang offenders. However, much less is known about the viability of pulling levers when applied to different contexts as well as to diverse groups of offenders. We examine the High Point (North Carolina) Drug Market Intervention (DMI), the first site to use pulling levers as a place-based policing approach to disrupt a series of open-air drug markets across the city. Eleven years of longitudinal data are analyzed by using difference-in-difference panel regression analyses combined with finite mixture estimation as a means to test for divergence in violent crime patterns. Several key, although inconsistent, findings are presented. First, we found a statistically significant reduction in violent offenses in specific high-crime places (i.e., high-trajectory census blocks) located across the different targeted neighborhoods compared with the remainder of High Point, and relative to comparable nontargeted areas. Second, the citywide violent crime rate actually increased after a series of interventions unfolded, which may suggest limitations with the approach. Finally, trend analyses indicated the strategy had different levels of violent crime impact throughout unique geographic contexts. Policy Implications Rather than arresting every offender identified as having participated in illicit drug trafficking across various geographic contexts within the city, officials in High Point decided to invite low-risk drug offenders to community notification sessions in order to change their perceived risk of punishment as well as to mobilize community members across the different targeted neighborhoods. The suggestive evidence of potential, although limited, violent crime impact illustrates that this type of policing strategy may hold considerable promise. This interpretation gains credence when considered with prior evaluations of the DMI approach that illustrated the potential for reducing drug-related crime and in light of reports of improved police–community relations. The inconsistent findings across all locations and the overall city increase in violent crime toward the end of the study period, however, raise several concerns when interpreting study results. Additionally, our findings suggest that further replications should include systematic problem-identification, process measures, and more precise research designs.     

Social organization as a correctional ideology: Breaking new ground

This paper examines the importance of the prison environment and its social organization as factors which reinforce the continued socialization of criminal careers. The authors analyze contemporary research findings within the context of prison administration and conclude that if behavioral change is to become a realistic by-product of incarceration, then we may need to reformulate the correctional ideology upon which penal policies rest. A social organization framework; consistant with empirical data, is then provided as the basis for an ideology leading to new generation prisons.     

Book reviews

Charles S. Sampson (ed.), Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Vol.VI, Kennedy-Krushchev Exchanges (Washington: GPO, 1996).

Gillian Staerck and Michael Kandiah (eds), PROfiles 1964 on CD-ROM: Set I Prime Minister's and Cabinet Documents (£300 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526478-7); Set 2, Documents on External Affairs (£350 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526487-6); Set 3, Cabinet Committees and Defence Documents (£300 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526488-4); Set 4, Comprehensive Index and Library CD-ROM (£200 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526489-2). Discount for purchase of all four sets: £900 + VAT. Published by HMSO Electronic Publishing Sales, HMSO Publications Centre, 51 Nine Elms Lane, P0 Box 276, London 5W8 5DT (Tel. David Blake or Andrew Evans on UK - 171-873-8236; Fax. UK - 171-873-8203). The US and Canadian agent is UNIPUB, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706- 4391 (Tel. Toll Free 800-274-4888; Fax 800-865-3450).

Michael Shea, To Lie Abroad - Diplomacy Revisited (Sinclair Stevenson, 1996), 260 pp., £17.99 hb.

Michael Dockrill and Brian McKercher (eds.), Diplomacy and World Power: Studies in British Foreign Policy, 1890-1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1 996); xix+2714 pp. ISBN 0-921-46243-6.

David H. Dunn (ed.), Diplomacy at the Highest Level: The Evolution of International Summitry (London/New York: Macmillan, St. Martin's Press, 1996), 279 pp. £45, ISBN (UK) 0-333-64441-9, (USA) 0-312-16273-1.

David Dutton, Anthony Eden: A Life and Reputation (London: Arnold, 1997) xiv + 576 pp., £25 (hb); ISBN 0-340-56168-8.

James G. Hershberg, James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear Age (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 948 pp.

Saki Dockrill, Eisenhower's New-Look National Security Policy, 1953-61 (London: Macmillan, 1996). xvi + 400pp., £40.

Alan James, Britain and the Congo Crisis, 1960-63 (London: Macmillan, 1996), xxi + 219pp. £42.50; ISBN 0-333-61860-2.

Robert S. McNamara, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York: Random House, 1995), xviii + 414pp., ISBN 0-8129-2523-8.