Understanding (Mis)classification Trends of Latin Americans in Fordisc 3.1: Incorporating Cranial Morphology,Microgeographic Origin,and Admixture Proportions for Interpretation

Assigning correct population affinity to a skeleton can contribute important information to an investigation—yet recent work highlights high error rates when classifying Latinos with a traditional tool, Fordisc 3.1 (FD3). Our study examines whether misclassification trends exist, and whether these can be used to infer population affinity. We examine the relationships among ancestry, geography, and FD3 misclassifications of Latinos using canonical variate analysis and unsupervised model‐based clustering of craniometrics. Northern Mexicans appear more strongly associated with FD3 references samples with elevated amounts of European ancestry (e.g., American Blacks and Whites), while Southern Mexicans are more strongly associated with FD3 reference samples with reduced amounts of European ancestry (e.g., Guatemalans and Native Americans). FD3 classifications revealed that Latinos exhibited lower posterior probabilities when compared to other common case demographics (Whites and African Americas), even when the classification was “correct.” We make recommendations for practitioner interpretation of FD3 reports for casework.     

Development and Assessment of Postcranial Sex Estimation Methods for a Guatemalan Population

This study tests whether postcranial sex estimation methods generated from Hispanic, and mainly Mexican samples, can be successfully applied to other increasingly common migrant populations from Central America. We use a sample of postcranial data from a modern (1980s) Guatemalan Maya sample (n = 219). Results indicate a decrease in classification accuracies for previously established univariate methods when applied to the Guatemalan study sample, specifically for males whose accuracies ranged from 30 to 84%. This bias toward inaccuracies for Guatemalan males is associated with the smaller skeletal sizes for the Guatemalan sample as compared to the samples used in the tested sex estimation methods. In contrast, the tested multivariate discriminant function classification yielded less sex bias and improved classification accuracies ranging from 82 to 89%. Our results highlight which of the tested univariate and multivariate methods reach acceptable levels for accuracy for sex estimation of cases where the region of origin may include Guatemala.     

IPV Survivors’ Perceptions of How a Flexible Funding Housing Intervention Impacted Their Children

An estimated 15.5 million American children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) every year. Such exposure negatively impacts children’s health, development and academic performance and may also be accompanied by housing instability or homelessness. Children growing up with periods of homelessness or housing instability are at risk for many of the same detrimental outcomes as children exposed to IPV. To date there are few studies examining the interrelationships among IPV, housing instability and the impact of housing interventions on children’s well-being. The current qualitative, longitudinal study examined mothers’ perceptions of how receipt of flexible funding designed to increase their housing stability may have also impacted their children’s safety, stress, mood and behavior. Forty-two mothers in the Washington, D.C. metro area were interviewed three times over a six-month period about their own safety and housing stability, as well as their children’s. Ninety-five percent of the mothers and their children were housed at the six-month interview. Mothers described improvements in children’s stability and safety, decreases in children’s stress levels, and improvements to their mood and behavior. They also discussed the symbiotic relationship between their own stress and well-being, and their children’s. The provision of flexible funding to assist domestic violence survivors with their housing also collaterally impacted their children’s safety, stress, mood and behavior.     

Forensic Analysis of Cigarette Ash—Brand Determination Through Trace‐metal Analysis

The information inherent in cigarette ash in the form of trace‐metal concentrations may be of use in a forensic context as it can indicate the brand from which the ash originated. This knowledge might help place suspects at crime scenes or determine how many people may have been present. To develop and test statistical models capable of classifying ash samples according to brand, commercial cigarettes procured in the U.S. and overseas were “smoked” using a peristaltic pump, mimicking the range of human smoking habits. Ash samples were digested in a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid applying microwave digestion and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis of the elemental data showed intrinsic differences between brands. Partial least squares‐discriminant analysis demonstrated that brand classification yields good sensitivity and specificity for a number of models tested. Varying smoking parameters did not impact the classification of ash samples.     

Factors related to willingness to help survivors of intimate partner violence

Although researchers have found that survivors of intimate partner violence seek support from a multitude of sources, ranging from professionals to informal support networks, little is known about the extent to which community members reach out to help survivors. This study explored the type of support provided to survivors and various factors that relate to individuals' willingness to help. Survivors were more likely to be helped by women, younger individuals, those who strongly endorsed criminal justice interventions for perpetrators, and those who perceived intimate partner violence as a frequently occurring issue in their communities. Two additional factors were found to relate to an individual's likelihood of assisting others, including witnessing intimate partner violence as a child and prior victimization. Further research is needed in this area to explore helper, survivor, and contextual characteristics that may affect one's likelihood to offer assistance to survivors.     

The Use of Children as a Tactic of Intimate Partner Violence and its Relationship to Survivors’ Mental Health

Journal of Family Violence - Although prior research has established that intimate partner violence (IPV) often leads to increased depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),...     

Crack Propagation in Teeth: A Comparison of Perimortem and Postmortem Behavior of Dental Materials and Cracks*

Abstract: This study presents a new method for understanding postmortem heat-induced crack propagation patterns in teeth. The results demonstrate that patterns of postmortem heat-induced crack propagation differ from perimortem and antemortem trauma-induced crack propagation patterns. Dental material of the postmortem tooth undergoes dehydration leading to a shrinking and more brittle dentin material and a weaker dentin-enamel junction. Dentin intertubule tensile stresses are amplified by the presence of the pulp cavity, and initiates crack propagation from the internal dentin, through the dentin-enamel junction and lastly the enamel. In contrast, in vivo perimortem and antemortem trauma-induced crack propagation initiates cracking from the external surface of the enamel toward the dentin-enamel junction where the majority of the energy of the crack is dissipated, eliminating the crack’s progress into the dentin. These unique patterns of crack propagation can be used to differentiate postmortem taphonomy-induced damage from antemortem and perimortem trauma in teeth.