Forensic anthropology and missing persons: A Brazilian perspective

Calmon, Melina

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.03.032

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Also, more vacancies should be opened for practitioners in this field, especially in more populous states and those in which the number of cases greatly exceeds available human resources. The creation of a missing persons database is another urgent issue [7]. Because of people's mobility across the country, the database should be national rather than state‐based to guarantee access to resources for experts from different states.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the cause of death can be determined only by medical examiners and only they are authorized to sign the final report. As Cunha [14] pointed out, Brazil and Sri Lanka are the only known countries in which anthropological analyses in a forensic context are performed mainly by odontologists, many of which do not have the necessary background and qualifications in this field [7].…”

Section: Forensic Anthropology In Brazilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The work of forensic professionals chiefly operates within the structures of Medico-Legal Institutes (IMLs) across the country and the specialists working within IMLs belong to law enforcement staff [7].…”

Section: Forensic Anthropology In Brazilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on this topic are limited and quite outdated [8–12]. More recent publications present a comprehensive background on the subject and indicate important challenges and deficiencies in the functioning of the forensic anthropology service in Brazil [7–15]. The turbulent history of the country, including the period of military dictatorship (1964‐1985), serves as an important yet not exclusive factor that explains limitations in terms of budget, working conditions, lack of equipment and technology, and the scarcity of research and teaching of forensic sciences in general and forensic anthropology in particular [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, this was one of the main reasons for which many cases analyzed by respondents remain unsolved (i.e., unidentified). Calmon[7] offered in-depth background research on the subject of missing persons in Brazil, including its challenges (the lack of communication among IMLs, lack of connection among state databases of missing persons, or lack of standardization in recording missing person cases among the states), as well as certain initiatives undertaken to improve the situation. When the institution of the IML was created in the 1930 s, facilities were designed to perform the role of training and research centers, apart from the expertise they deliver.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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In search of identity: The field of forensic anthropology in Brazil—Profession and practice

Górka

Plens

2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Forensic anthropology has been gaining space and importance within the context of forensic sciences. However, significant differences should be noted regarding the development of this discipline around the world [1-5]. In the United States, the practice of forensic anthropology is probably the most regularized, organized, and professionalized [2]. In various European countries, as well as in South Africa, important steps are being undertaken in order to regularize this field, but significant divergencies persist [5]. In South America, as described by Baraybar and Blackwell [6], the development of forensic sciences had a different trajectory than in northern countries and represents a contrasting level of development. Most research efforts and analyses of the situation of forensic anthropology have focused mainly on Europe and the United States, leaving neglected or forgotten the countries of the so-called Global South. In South America, due to generational circumstances and long-term geopolitical situations, the rates of criminality and

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forensic Anthropology In Brazilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forensic Anthropology In Brazilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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In search of identity: The field of forensic anthropology in Brazil—Profession and practice

Górka

Plens

2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Indexing, enriching, and understanding Brazilian missing person cases from data of distributed repositories on the web

et al. 2022

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For decision making in government, it is necessary to have well-structured sources of information. In several countries, it is difficult to access government data as the information are dispersed, disconnected, and poorly structured. For this reason, this work presents a framework to gather, unify, and enrich missing person data from distributed web sources. The framework allows inserting new tasks specific to the user’s domain to improve data quality. In this study, Brazilian missing person data from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental websites were collected and semantically enriched. To enhance the understanding of the gathered missing people cases, we create interpretive models using machine learning techniques to extract knowledge and to encourage the use of standards for publishing the data that are frequently ignored by organizations, hindering analysis and decision-making on data. After the collection and semantic enrichment process, there was an increase of approximately 11% in the data present in the base. Also, the mining process evidenced the disappearance and reappearance of a person in Brazil according to several factors such as age, state initiatives, skin tone, hair colors, etc.

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