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ASM 275- Forensic Anthropology Exam Study Guide Latest Update., Exams of Nursing

Walden UniversityNursing

ASM 275- Forensic Anthropology Exam Study Guide Latest Update.

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ASM 275: Forensic Anthropology Exam Study Guide Latest
Update
ASM 275: Forensic Anthropology Exam 3 Study Guide
TRAUMA: injury caused to the living tissue by an
outside force.
Projectile: bullets, arrows, spears
Blunt force: clubs, bats
Sharp force: knives, swords
Basic Bone Trauma
1. Displacements: bone surfaces no longer meet
2. Hinge: incomplete separation
3. Greenstick: incomplete separation; subadults
Perimortem trauma: injury happened near time of
death; could be used to link to medical records
Perimortem (LEGAL): around the time of death
Perimortem (Skeletal trauma): the period before
which signs of healing are evident; could mean at the
time of death-several weeks after death
Features: no sign of healing, 1. Sharp edges of fracture & lines 2. Hinging; not seen in
postmortem fractures, 3. Fracture lines 4. Angled broken edges (jagged/lightening shaped)
5. Hematoma staining
Antemortem trauma: injury happened before death; could be used to reconstruct the cause and
manner of death
Postmortem trauma: there is no injury, the one breakage occurred after death; bone breakage does
not contribute to forensic analysis.
Features: 1. Does not have fracture lines
2. Greenstick & hinge fractures present
3. Breaks occur at right angles to
bone shaft
Phases of FRACTURE HEALING
1. Hematoma forms -blood pools over surface -internal scab to help stabilize break
2. Callus forming -woven bone deposited
3. Remodeling of woven bone into mature bone
BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA (Module 16; Lab 14)
Blunt force trauma: any injury resulting from a blow that impacts over a relatively wide area of the bone. Generally caused
by compression and bending and results in the bone discontinuities & fracture lines. *Includes punching; typically results in
relatively CLEAN, SIMPLE FRACTURES, without significant crushing or comminution.
-Types of objects: pick axe handles, poles, bamboo sticks, axes, ox-cart handles, or shovels
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Download ASM 275- Forensic Anthropology Exam Study Guide Latest Update. and more Exams Nursing in PDF only on Docsity!

ASM 275: Forensic Anthropology Exam Study Guide Latest

Update

ASM 275: Forensic Anthropology Exam 3 Study Guide TRAUMA: injury caused to the living tissue by an outside force. Projectile: bullets, arrows, spears Blunt force: clubs, bats Sharp force: knives, swords Basic Bone Trauma

  1. Displacements: bone surfaces no longer meet
  2. Hinge: incomplete separation
  3. Greenstick: incomplete separation; subadults Perimortem trauma: injury happened near time of death; could be used to link to medical records Perimortem (LEGAL): around the time of death Perimortem (Skeletal trauma): the period before which signs of healing are evident; could mean at the time of death-several weeks after death Features: _no sign of healing, 1. Sharp edges of fracture & lines 2. Hinging; not seen in postmortem fractures, 3. Fracture lines 4. Angled broken edges (jagged/lightening shaped)
  4. Hematoma staining_ Antemortem trauma: injury happened before death; could be used to reconstruct the cause and manner of death Postmortem trauma: there is no injury, the one breakage occurred after death; bone breakage does not contribute to forensic analysis. Features: _1. Does not have fracture lines
  5. Greenstick & hinge fractures present
  6. Breaks occur at right angles to bone shaft_ Phases of FRACTURE HEALING
  7. Hematoma forms - blood pools over surface - internal scab to help stabilize break
  8. Callus forming - woven bone deposited
  9. Remodeling of woven bone into mature bone BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA (Module 16; Lab 14) Blunt force trauma: any injury resulting from a blow that impacts over a relatively wide area of the bone. Generally caused by compression and bending and results in the bone discontinuities & fracture lines. *Includes punching; typically results in relatively CLEAN, SIMPLE FRACTURES, without significant crushing or comminution.
  • Types of objects: pick axe handles, poles, bamboo sticks, axes, ox-cart handles, or shovels

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

This includes some basic types of injury:

  • blunt instruments (crowbars, baseball bats)
  • car/train/plane crashes
  • Abrasions of all kinds (Road rash)
  • Bites & Falls If object used in trauma is distinct in shape it can leave impressions; the larger & heavier the object, the wider the area of damage.

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

Soft tissue wounds: three types caused by blunt force trauma

  • Laceration: is a tear in the skin caused by a blunt object, which is different from a cut or incision. More irregular in appearance and will also have string of flesh connecting both sides of the wound within the wound itself, often accompanied by contusions around impact site.
  • Contusion: a bruise or coagulation of blood under the skin due to the rupture of blood vessels from the blunt trauma. Useful for estimating time since death since coloring of bruises changes over time, from light blue to darker purple, to green, to yellow, to brown.
  • Abrasion: superficial scraping or stretching of the skin beyond elastic capabilities. Characteristic of Instruments: SIZE : width of area between the contusions generally corresponds with width of weapon. Long axis (length): can sometimes be estimated from dimensions of injury Short axis (width): an object with a small width needs less force to cause injury than one that is broader. SHAPE : we want to access the cross sectional and longitudinal dimensions of the weapon Round: clubs, bats, glass bottles Angular: crowbars, lumbar, etc. *More likely to leave distinct marks, distinct edges, fewer fracture lines & most likely to leave imprint of shape on bone WEIGHT : heavy instruments can cause catastrophic fractures resulting in large wounds with extensive crushing and fragmentation. Force of impact is more important than the weight of the object used. Effects of Blunt Instruments on: The Skull Youthful elastic bone deforms inwardly at the point of impact. Outer table is under compression and inner is under tension. Bone is more susceptible to tension; therefore, the bone breaks from the inner surface out. 4 main buttresses of cranial vault (thicker areas/more stable): Mid-occipital, Posterior

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

temporal, Anterior temporal, Midfrontal region Blows to the face = LeFort Fractures: Lefort I: separates the upper teeth and alveolar bone from the rest of the skull; (from lower blow to the face) Lefort II: midface separates from the rest of the cranium; caused by an anterior blow to the midface Lefort III: separates the face from the cranial vault; caused by centrally focused blow to upper face Cranial Base Ring Fracture: body pushed into brain (tension) case or compressed. Ring shaped fragment of bone broken at bottom of skull ex: if you fall, and fall on head, your

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

the smaller #=larger diameter of shell. Larger, heavier bullets do more damage.

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

  1. Profile : shape of the tip; rifles=pointed, handguns=blunt or flat. Some are hollow pointed=fragment upon impact to increase damage. PIC: (hollow point-blunt full metal jacket- shotgun shell)
    1. Internal composition : lead deforms easily, solid metal bullets less easily, fragmenting bullets are meant to break apart upon impact. A hollow point will deform greatly upon impact with even soft materials.
  2. Jacketing : metal casing around the bullet core; full metal jacket will prevent bullet from deforming easily. If the distance between the victim and shooter was greater than 25 in there is NO EFFECT of these gasses & powder on the soft tissue (besides the primary bullet wound). **1. Firing the bullet produces heat, which can cause burns on skin if touching end of barrel.
  3. Gases are pushed out of end of barrel, which can indent soft tissue before bullet arrives, or be driven into under the sin causing plastic deformation to wound site similar to over-inflating & then deflating a balloon.
  4. Burned gunpowder is discharged resulting in sot around wound, soot can be washed away.
  5. Unburned gunpowder is discharged, traveling further than burned gunpowder bc its heavier. This impacts sin causing abrasions in the form of stippling “powder tattooing”.** HARD CONTACT: barrel of gun is placed firmly against body. Bullet, burned gasses, unburned gunpowder into wound.
  • evidence of burning around wound
  • little evidence of soot or stippling around wound
  • gases can cause stellate tearing (star-shaped tears) of skin around primary wound site.

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide LOSE CONTACT: barrel is NOT placed firmly against the body and some powder allowed to escape.

  • no stellate tearing bc gasses are allowed to escape from the end of the barrel. CLOSE RANGE: farther away the barrel is from body, the greater the spread of damage will be.
  • Unburned gunpower will generally not be present if shot from more than 7 in away.
  • Close range shots without soot (washable) & stippling (unwashable) will be 7 - 24 in away.
  • Gunshots without burning, tearing, soot, or stippling will be from greater than 24 - 30 in away. Amount of energy impacting the body matters most, and this depends on
  • Size of bullet - Caliber or Gauge of the weapon fired - Bullet characteristics - Distance between assailant and victim *Close range gunshots cause more damage than distance gunshots **Larger caliber weapons cause more damage than smaller caliber weapons Least to most damage reflecting the amount of energy with which the bullet impacted the body:
  1. A single entrance wound, no internal damage (ricochet), no exit wound
  2. A single entrance wound with internal ricochet damaging the endocardium, no exit wound
  3. A paired entrance and exit wound similar size, suggesting limited bullet deformation
  4. A paired entrance and exit wound, with exit wound much larger than entrance wound indicating bullet deformation or fragmentation.
  5. Catastrophic damage, loss of vault contour is significant, the vault is in pieces.
  • Bullet basics (gauge, caliber, jacketing, point types)
  • Caliber : is a measure of size and refers to the diameter of a bullet and/or the barrel of a handgun (generally measured in hundredths of an inch, although today many are measured via mm) *Larger bullet=larger caliber e.g. common calibers: .22, .357, .45, .9mm, etc
  • Gauge : measures the max weight of a lead ball that would fit down the barrel of a shotgun A 10 gauge shotgun would allow a ball weight 1/10 of a lb down the barrel, a 12 gauge, 1/12 lb; 12 gauge is larger than a 20 gauge; 1/12 > 1/
  • Ammunition ; characterized based on profile, internal composition and jacketing of bullets Profile: shape of the bullet tip ( rifle =sharp, blunt =round and flat tip usually found in handguns, hallow points = have an indentation in their tips, they cause enormous exit wounds to expand on impact
  • Jacketing : helps to reduce bullet deformation; full metal =means whole bullet is encased in copper, semi-jacketed= bullets covered partially; non-jacketed =bullets “soft-tipped” deform while passing thru tissue.

Direct contact suggests suicide or execution style killing by gas build up in scarring. GAS BUILDUP FROM STELLATE SCARRING & MUZZLE BURNS; indicates a suicide style killing from DIRECT CONTACT Loose contact gunshot – gun held close to body but not directly touching it; there would be some burnt tissue from hot gunpowder around the wound and a little soot; small gunpowder burn diameter because some of the powder escapes the weapon as its discharged; a stellate wound is seldom observed. Skin gets indented from the force placed upon wound and has some space for the burned gunpowder to escape. Red circle: primary area of impact, skin indentation from gasses Blue circle: burning and soot Usually will see muzzle burns, soot around bullet hole and imprints from shape of muzzle to do firing (Provides info for murder weapon) Close Range Gunshot wounds: firearm is held away from person (2ft); Lose wound has muzzle burn, but close range DOES NOT If gun is more than 7in from body, you’ll see stippling (powder tattooing) but not soot (soot is lighter and will float away compared to gunpowder) Incomplete Contact Gunshot wound

  • angled near contact wound (not perpendicular) and allows a HYBRID bullet wound on the skin. Red circles = bullet holes Blue area: soot and burning around bullet hole Arrow: pointed at the direction the gun was facing Graze Bullet wounds: formation of skin tags (that point toward the muzzle of the gun) & skin tears (direction the bullet was moving; the black arrow in the pic)

Shotgun Injury: most destructive; they propel numerous tiny pellets (bird or buckshot) instead of a single bullet, at extremely high velocity.

  • One can gauge a decedent’s distance from the shotgun via the diameter of the shotgun pellet spread in their body. ******The little holes reflect the scatter of the pellets Effects of bullets on BONE:
  • If a projectile has enough energy & it is not hindered in its passage thru body, it will cause entrance & exit wound. *Important bc it will tell you where the perpetrator was standing when gun was fired.
  • Bullets create a primary fracture at the sight of impact, depending on bullet, it can also cause secondary fractures in surrounding tissues. Each bullet hole is cone-shaped in outline with the larger part of the cone facing the direction in which the bullet is travelling. Bullet knocks a hole out “Plug and Spall” in bone - this is what gives bullet characteristics their determining shape INWARD beveling: refers to the bevel on the inside of the bone at the site of impact. This means a tiny hole on the outside of the skull, perhaps, with a beveling on the brain side. OUTWARD beveling: indicates the exit wound; beveling on the outside of the wound. It will have a smaller hole on that side; compared to the entry wound.

WOUND SHAPE TYPES OF WOUNDS

  • Shape of wound that a bullet produces depends on: ROUND: angle of bullet axis and trajectory are perpendicular to bone surface
  1. Its construction - material, jacketing, etc. - Entrance wounds most common, exit wounds less so, but not with jacketing
  2. Angle of trajectory - in relation to bone OVAL: angle of bullet axis and trajectory is not perpendicular to bone surface
  3. Angle of axis - tumbling or straight KEYHOLE: grazing shot, acute angle
  4. Type of wound that it forms (entrance, exit) IRREGULAR: more common with unusual bullet types, hollow and soft tip, exit more common Keyhole wound happens when the bullet enters the body at a very shallow angle (not perpendicular); creating an entrance and exit wound in the same area. These wounds indicate something about the relationship between the body and the person doing the shooting and the direction from which the shot came: Arrow=direction of bullet; entrance on the right and exit wound on the left (b&w image) WOUND SIZE
  • Affected by wound type Exit larger than entrance, in general
  • Bullet Characteristics: Caliber: Smaller caliber = smaller wound Larger than expected - bone thickness increase deformation Smaller than expected - age of victim, deflection, sutural Construction: Affects rate of deformation; less deformation = smaller wound Velocity: High velocity has greater energy & ability to massively destroy the bone Fracture lines: secondary fractures caused by intracranial pressure increase introduced by bullet ( & accompanying gasses)
  • Production of secondary fractures depends on the range from the target and the kinetic energy of the bullet at impact.
  1. Radiating fracture lines: originate (radiate) from the site of impact there they move outward in any direction, especially in entrance wounds. These usually end abruptly at suture lines as the force dissipates. (Exit wound; powerful weapon).
  2. Concentric fracture lines: most common with a very high speed projectile; they’re the result of massive force rippling outward from the site of impact and intracranial pressure. This can break bone (look at pic). These fractures occur around the wound due to the heaving of the bone outward from the initial impact.

2. Puncture/Stabs: result from objects being stabbed into body at perpendicular angle using objects like closed scissors, knives or ice picks. Even length and width dimensions; punctures have vertically oriented stiations, limited wastage, but secondary fracture and hinging may be present. Deeper than it is long

to heavy sharp Cleft/notches: result from chopping instruments being used attack person; axes, and other objects, resulting in combination of & blunt force trauma characteristics. Impact body at perpendicular angle, resulting in vertically oriented striations. Weight of objects means that secondary fracture lines, hinging and wastage are more likely to occur. One of the main differences between BLUNT & SHARP FORCE TRAUMA is that SHARP force objects (swords, machetes) produce long impact sites with clear straight lines; this is rarely seen with BLUNT force objects. A sharp instrument CUTS and divides as it penetrates; usually, there are no abrasions. A Blunt instrument abrades, crushes, and tears, often sparing small nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue which may be viewed as thin, delicate bridges within the wound (Laceration) Sharp force trauma (knife) vs Blunt force trauma (hammer) Hilt Mark: abrasion accompanying a sharp force injury Presence of fingernail scratches A Contusion may form as the result of a perpetrator’s hand striking the victim as the instrument penetrates deeply. 4 Criteria for ID type of sharp force trauma weapon:

  1. Stations : microscopic lines within the profile of the trauma site itself

Puncture - Ice pick (conical shape wound) Incision - knife

ASM 275 EXAM 3 ASM 275 study guide

Cleft - axe (wide and deep wounds; vertically orientated striations; fracture lines like blunt force) Straight wall/Wastage R/L sides

  1. Width - weapon shape, direction of blow
  2. Depth - force and weapon shape
  3. Length - shape and direction of blow
  4. Striations - lines in cross-section of wound that indicate direction of force
  5. Fracture lines - level of force, weapon (secondary)
  6. Hinge fractures - level of force, weapon (secondary)
  7. Wastage - level of force, weapon (secondary) TAPHONOMY (Module 18; Lab 14; Morton article; Allaire & Manheim article) Major sources of misdiagnosed trauma is the simple process of bone destruction in the grave environment. The study of what happens to the body once its buried is called taphonomy. Forensic Taphnomy: the study of the postmortem changes to human remains that occurred after the individual died but before the body was analyzed in the lab; e.g. dismemberment, intentional burning, animal scavenging and trampling, bone weathering and sun bleaching, bone sorting by moving water, soil conditions (acidity/mineral content) and effects of plant roots. GOAL: to reconstruct the force that impacted or affected a body from the time of death until time of recovery Dismemberments - leaves identifiable tool mark on bone; Homicide; insight to assailant’s state of mind Animal scavenging Fire damage Weathering Burial damage Water transport and damage ***Important for differentiation trauma from psuedotrauma & help establish if a body was dug up and moved, or mishandled by lab enforcement personal.
  • Dismemberment: the intentional separation of body segments, often performed to hide the identity of the victim. (taphonomic processes, but some also categorize as sharp force trauma) Usually cuts to joints (knives), chopping (aces) and chiseling (saws) implements. SAWS: Cut Mark Analysis
  • The repetitive motion of the saw blade in the bone creates a number of diagnostic characteristics:
  1. The number of teeth per sq inch and their size
  2. Angulation of the teeth and blade thickness
  3. The power source As the saw teeth cut into bone, a grove or kerf (groove created in an object that is being cut) is formed. Analyzing the kerf, kerf wall and kerf floor is the primary goal of forensic cut mark analysis. SAWS cause 3 types of (Dismemberment) CUTS on bone that are useful in a forensics investigation: