Strangulation and Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Why Strangulation Occurs Since 1987, October has been declared Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) in order to raise awareness and connect individuals and organizations who work with this issue on a daily basis. This year, the theme is “We Are Resilient.” In the United States alone, an average of 20 people per minute are physically […]
What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?
Potential Biomarker for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is defined as a sudden and unexplained cause of death in a seemingly healthy baby that is less than a year old. This type of death usually occurs during sleep and the cause has alluded researchers for decades. As of 2019, there were […]
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Its Effect on Criminal Behavior
How Adverse Childhood Experiences Relate to Criminal Behavior: Part 3 The definition of child sexual abuse has been controversial. Some scholars, practitioners, and organizations believe that peer-perpetrated abuse should be included in the definition and others believe that the definition should be limited to interactions between children and adults. Therefore, the research includes two separate […]
How Can Early Environments Influence Future Criminal Behavior?
Environmental Influences and Effects on Future Criminal Behavior A healthy family environment is critical to a child’s emotional and physical wellbeing. We all know that no one is perfect and therefore no family is perfect. However, a severely dysfunctional family can influence antisocial or criminal behavior. Known risk factors are poverty, education level, parenting […]
When Does Discipline Cross The Line Of Abuse?
Discipline or Child Abuse? Many experts are asked to answer this question when they are retained on child abuse cases. It is not as black and white as one might think. Corporal punishment is defined as “an act carried out with the intention of causing a child to experience physical pain, but not injury, for […]
What Are The Long-Term Effects of Repetitive Head Trauma?
Traumatic Brain Injury in Criminal Cases After Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), people can experience personality changes, social anxiety, irritability, anger, depression, general anxiety, mood swings, emotional lability, and feelings of being overwhelmed. The bottom line is that the brain no longer functions exactly the way it did prior to the head injury. The location of […]
Does Childhood Trauma Lead To Criminal Behavior?
How Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Relate to Criminal Behavior This article is the first in a series about the effects of stressful and traumatic events in a child’s life and its relationship to the likelihood of this child committing serious, violent crimes later in life. These events can include such things as physical abuse, sexual […]
How Alternative Light Sources Are Used In Forensics
Alternative Light Sources and Their Effectiveness in Enhancing the Visibility of Injuries History of ALS A fairly new science has emerged within the past 70 years regarding the use of alternative light sources (ALS) to enhance the visibility of injuries, being used in forensics starting around 1990. There has been research done on this topic, […]
Did COVID-19 Bring a Higher Risk of Abuse?
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic people have been told to stay at home for their own safety and the safety of others. Could there be a higher risk of abuse? What about those people who are victims of domestic violence? How are they faring at home? Is home a safe place for victims […]
Can One Punch Kill? {Assault/Trauma}
A review of medications and medical history can play a critical role in any case with traumatic injuries.
