Humanitarian action in academic institutions: A case study in the ethical stewardship of unidentified forensic cases

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dc.contributor.authorGoldstein, Justin
dc.contributor.authorMoe, Mariah
dc.contributor.authorWiedenmeyer, Emilie
dc.contributor.authorBanks, Petra
dc.contributor.authorMavroudas, Sophia
dc.contributor.authorHamilton, Michelle D.
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-15T20:05:46Z
dc.date.available2022-04-15T20:05:46Z
dc.date.issued2022-03
dc.description.abstractForensic anthropologists are often responsible for the management of long-term unidentified individuals. Others have contextualised these decedents—many of whom likely belonged to socially, politically, and/or economically marginalised groups in life—as part of a larger identification crisis in the United States. However, there has been little discussion surrounding how this humanitarian crisis has manifested in academic institutions, where anthropologists often provide medicolegal consultation and act as long-term stewards of the unidentified. The Identification & Repatriation Initiative was created at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University (FACTS) to recognise and investigate unidentified human remains in long-term storage. Our paper outlines common challenges that were encountered during our initial reassessment of unidentified cases at FACTS, emphasising the detrimental impacts of inconsistent procedures, loss of context, and case fatigue. It is likely that other academic institutions face similar challenges, and by highlighting these issues we hope to help initiate a larger conversation concerning ethical stewardship of human remains in these settings. By incorporating humanitarian perspectives into forensic casework, anthropologists in academia can better advocate for the long-term unidentified.
dc.description.departmentAnthropology
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent8 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationGoldstein, J. Z., Moe, M. E., Wiedenmeyer, E. L., Banks, P. M., Mavroudas, S. R., & Hamilton, M. D. (2022) Humanitarian action in academic institutions: A case study in the ethical stewardship of unidentified forensic cases. Forensic Sciences Research, pp. 1-8.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2022.2035063
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/15656
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.rights.licenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.sourceForensic Sciences Research, 2022, pp. 1-8.
dc.subjectforensic anthropology
dc.subjectforensic sciences
dc.subjectunidentified persons
dc.subjectlong-term unidentified
dc.subjectidentification
dc.subjectacademic institutions
dc.subjectstandardization
dc.subjecthumanitarian
dc.subjectaction
dc.subjectAnthropology
dc.titleHumanitarian action in academic institutions: A case study in the ethical stewardship of unidentified forensic cases
dc.typeArticle

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