Beyond the report: Prospects and challenges in forensic anthropological investigations of structural vulnerability

A structural vulnerability approach to older adult suicides: Trends and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Clark County, NV (2017–2021)

“…While opportunities for applying SVPs within forensic anthropological casework are apparent, the authors of this paper echo sentiments expressed by others in this special issue: contextual information is important when generating effective SVPs (see Ref. [ 2 ], this issue). Here, a regional example of suicide trends observed among older adults during the SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus, COVID-19) pandemic is presented as an example of how such contextual information can provide guidance on the use of “early death” as a biomarker of inequality.…”

“…Without considering context alongside skeletal evidence, we risk minimizing the impacts that forensic anthropological analyses have on medicolegal cases, cultural stigma, and legislation [ 21 ]. Gruenthal-Rankin and colleagues [ 2 ] voice similar concerns, noting that structural vulnerability approaches and assessments may further stigmatize deceased individuals who lived as members of vulnerable groups. While they continue to advocate for biocultural assessments in forensic anthropology casework and research, they do not advise doing so without 1) catering to an array of stakeholders; 2) evaluating the assessment for potential harm; and 3) integrating contextual data.…”

Operationalizing the structural vulnerability profile within the medical examiner context

“…As critiqued in Ref. [ 59 ]; the Winburn et al (this issue) call to operationalize the SVP focuses on biomarkers, not recovery context. However, these authors' preliminary work developing structural vulnerability frameworks for forensic science [ 1 ] explicitly highlights the importance of material culture, depositional context, and other scene evidence—as well as the protocols necessary to ensure their systematic collection and documentation—to accurate interpretations of decedents' experiences of life and death.…”

“…We wish to amplify that sentiment here. In addition to the biological traits visible in fleshed and skeletonized decedents, contextual data from scene recoveries can indeed be relevant to an interpretation of a decedent's lived experiences of marginalization (sensu [ 1 , 59 ]. In our third opening vignette of the unhoused decedent (see Box 1 ), the death investigator immediately speculated about the individual's housing precarity—a conclusion almost certainly contributing to their death due to exposure.…”

The Missing and the Marginalized: A Biocultural Approach to Forensic Anthropology at the US/Mexico Border

“…Evidence of nutritional deficiencies and a lack of accessible healthcare are just some reasons an individual may seek asylum in the US. However, it is important to consider that assessing health from human skeletal remains can be comprehensive and complex [26,34,35]. A lack of proper food or access to healthcare, especially in socio-politically charged or violent social climates, can be enough to push people to seek refuge elsewhere, even if it means crossing treacherous terrain; this perpetrated violence, both direct and indirect, drives people to attempt to seek asylum in the US, braving the conditions along the US/Mexico border [1,2,26].…”