National Academy of Sciences “Standardization”: On What Terms?

Abstract

The frequently cited 2009 National Academy of Sciences Report entitled "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward" has become a focal point of forensic science practitioners' discussions and research since its publication. One of its recommendations is "Standardized Terminology and Reporting". Little has been published to date on this topic, although conversations and dialogs on the subject are ongoing. The upshot of this communication is to draw attention to the problem of one term in particular, perimortem, which may be only the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" in the lexicon-related concerns of forensic scientists. Even if it is an isolated issue, it is one that reflects the need for a consensus on term use and definitions by interdisciplinary practitioners who are currently using the term haphazardly, to the confusion of colleagues and potentially finders-of-fact in the courts.

Postmortem Change and its Effect on Evaluation of Fractures

“…This difference and the reason for the difference is important to appreciate, as forensic pathologists consult forensic anthropologists, and misunderstanding of the use of the term, "perimortem," could cause confusion. In fact, because of confusion with the use of this term and its inconsistent meaning across forensic specialties, discontinuation of its use is advocated (6,16).…”

“…To describe the relation of an injury to the actual time of death, both forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists have used the terms antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem. However, while the use of the term antemortem is similar between the two groups, always referring to injuries sustained prior to death, the context for the use of the terms perimortem and postmortem has varied between the two specialities, with fractures determined to be perimortem by the forensic anthropologist having an actual time range since death that overlaps with the time range of trauma determined to be postmortem by the forensic pathologist (5,6). For example, in one case, a forensic anthropologist may determine that a fracture was perimortem based upon their examination alone, with subsequent history revealing that the fracture of the bone occurred two months after death, in what a forensic pathologic would normally consider the postmortem period.…”

Three Problems of Interdisciplinarity

“…This amalgam of Greek (peri) and Latin (mortem) root words translates to "all around, about, near, enclosing, surrounding" [peri] and "death" [mortem]. (Bunch, 2014(Bunch, , p. 1041 The layperson meaning inferred in the quote above (e.g. "during the death process") is employed relatively rarely (Bunch, 2014).…”

“…(Bunch, 2014(Bunch, , p. 1041 The layperson meaning inferred in the quote above (e.g. "during the death process") is employed relatively rarely (Bunch, 2014). In science, there are narrower technical meanings.…”

“…But in medicine, the word is used not in the context of death-but in birth. A perimortem birth occurs when a baby is born "at or during the time of death of the mother" (Bunch, 2014(Bunch, , p. 1042. That is a radically different meaning from that in forensic anthropology.…”