THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES ON MEDICAL EXAMINERS' DETERMINATION OF MANNER OF DEATH

This study evaluated the impact of psychological information on medical examiners' determination of manner of death in equivocal cases. Ten cases, a typical and equivocal case for each of five case types (single car, child, autoerotic, psychotic, and Russian roulette death) were evaluated for manner of death by 195 medical examiner subjects. From this sample 95 control subjects received 10 cases made up of physical and circumstantial evidence, while 100 experimental subjects received the same 10 cases expanded with brief psychological autopsies. Psychological information was shown to have a statistically significant impact on subjects' determination (and certainty) of manner of death in equivocal cases and even in some typical cases.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00221198
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

  100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700
  West Conshohocken, PA  United States  19428-2957
• Authors:
  • Jobes, D A
  • Berman, A L
  • Josselson, A R
• Publication Date: 1986-1

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 177-189
• Serial:
  • Journal of Forensic Sciences
  • Volume: 31
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
  • ISSN: 0022-1198
  • EISSN: 1556-4029
  • Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1556-4029

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autopsies; Crash victims; Fatalities; Homicide; Medical examinations and tests; Mental disorders; Suicide
• Uncontrolled Terms: Causes
• Old TRIS Terms: Determination; Psychiatric abnormalities
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00491794
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-039 991
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 31 1990 12:00AM