By Hope Elena Sardella
LSTD – 1313 What are the Social Sciences
Instructor Jeffrey Roby
University of Oklahoma – College of Professional and Continuing Studies
I certify that I have read a student’s Guide to Academic Integrity at the University of Oklahoma, and this paper is an original paper composed by me for this course. Except where properly cited and attributed, it has not been copied or closely reworded from any other source and has not been submitted as a whole, or in part, for credit in any other course at OU or any other educational institution. It has not been created or submitted for any other purpose such as a job assignment at my workplace or any other agency.
I recently decided to tell my mother that If I could be anything in the world, I would like to solve crimes by training; and using cadaver dogs. Oddly enough, the job descriptions of Forensic Archeologist fits into this category perfectly. Forensic Archaeology employs the foundational discipline of archaeology rationale to reach solutions for medical-law and societal dilemmas through techniques comprising of conducting manhunts, pinpointing locations, land surveying, specimen samples, evidence interpretation, restoring and defining the age of evidence, and understanding how events occurred (Christensen et al. 2014, pg. 149). Both Anthropologists/archaeologists are often sought to support research for a law-enforcement thorough evaluation—utilization of remote sensing techniques, development of methodology in strategic recoveries, and cartography (Christensen et al. 2014, pg. 149).
My passion for research could lead me to solve the crime by developing new methods to profile corruption within the government; I have a passion for creating an original profiling method by observing societal dilemmas through investigative research in the historical evolutions of crime in modern-day society. Understanding events of history through an anthropological perspective and possibly viewing them and deep-seated micro-cultures will make it easier to identify and disassemble them. Anthropological criminology is the objective fusion of human exploration, which falls into criminal profiling based on observable connections in how crime operates and offenders’ physical and psychological attributes (Lawyers & Jurists. n.d).
There are three specific parts to anthropology criminology the general, the special, and the Practical General: General, outlines grouping of recognized evidence by dates obtained through evidence; second inquiries in research of distinct criminals through historical perspectives, psychological and social conditions, adding professional determination of what triggered a possible criminal event; third mechanism contemplates a review of the appropriateness of a consequence for particular crimes (Lawyers & Jurists. n.d). The specifics of what events I would like to focus on is namely missing persons crimes in Oklahoma. At present Oklahoma is facing their past atrocities and complicity in a massacre instigating by race. In October, 2020 Forensic archeologists/anthropologists conducted a study in which they unearthed eleven bodies that were apart of the mass killings in the Tulsa Riots that required the assistance of forensic archaeologists to use ground penetrating radar to locate the location of the mass grave (Fenwick, B. 2020). Such atrocities speak volumes to systemic behavior of certain portions of citizens, such as the white families that were involved in these killings. I believe tracking the subjects and their families to see if there are connections in further aggressive crimes. I would like to make new evaluations based on tracing crimes and conducting blind land surveys with equipment as well as incorporating cadaver dogs. I believe key areas that need to be addressed are personal property laws because there have been many capitol cases that have proven that individuals who own large properties have abused the remoteness to conceal heinous crimes. Additionally, individuals who have transient jobs, such as truck driving, pose significant societal risk factors to communities and there should be higher level of security employed in jobs that pose constant travel.
References
Christensen, A., Passalacqua, N., Bartelink, E. (2014). Forensic Anthropology Current Methods and Practices. Academic Press. Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/10.1016/B978-0-12-418671-2.00006-9
Fenwick, B. (2020). Mass Grave Unearthed in Tulsa During Search for Massacre Victims. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/a/www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/tulsa-massacre-coffins-grave.amp.html
Lawyers & Jurists. (n.d). Criminal Anthropology. Retrieved from https://www.lawyersnjurists.com/article/criminal-anthropology/