FIS 22100 - Forensic Death Investigations

Credit Hours: 3.00. In its broadest definition, forensic science represents a fusion of the natural sciences, criminology, and jurisprudence. As our society has become more dependent on rules of law to regulate the activity of its members, the field of forensic science has made it possible to apply the knowledge and technology of science to criminal investigation and law enforcement. It was the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who had a considerable influence on popularizing the use of scientific crime-detection methods to his fictional character Sherlock Holmes. It was in the stories of Sherlock Holmes that the public was introduced to the fields of serology, fingerprinting and firearm identification long before the value of these techniques was recognized accepted by the criminal justice system. The field of forensic pathology focuses specifically on the investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained or violent deaths. Forensic pathologists acting either as coroners or medical investigators have the responsibility of determining the cause of death, the identity of the deceased, the nature and severity of injury, and the timing of the injury relative to the time of death. In addition to this forensic pathologist may be involved in investigation of injuries resulting from assault, battery, crimes of a sexual nature, or those involving chemical substances.

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