The forensic thanatology, Also called judicial thanatology, it is a branch of legal medicine that deals with the phenomena associated with death and determining the circumstances in which it has occurred through the study of the corpse. The results are decisive in those cases in which justice must intervene.
The first to use the term thanatology was Elías Metchnikoff, a Russian doctor, although before him there were forensic examinations to determine the causes of deaths that seemed to have been caused.
As part of legal medicine, the role of forensic thanatology is critical in helping to investigate suspicious deaths. Through various techniques it is possible to know when, how and where the death occurred. Ultimately, it is about studying the stages of the decomposition of the corpse to find the legal answers that are needed..
Doctors specialized in this area are frequently called by the courts to explain their findings. They are also essential in helping to clarify any legal problem that occurs as a result of the death of a person..
The term thanatology comes from the Greek words thanatos, the name of the goddess of death, and logos, which means, among other things, study. The union of both words could therefore be translated as "science that studies death".
The first to use the word thanatology as science was, in 1901, Elías Metchnikoff, a Russian doctor who would later be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine..
During the rest of the 20th century, the concept was adapted to each culture, until, in 1991, Elizabeth Kübler Ross ended up defining this science as "the psychological phenomena that accompany terminally ill patients during the death process".
In its use within legal medicine, forensic thanatology was not unknown before the 20th century, although it did not receive that name. For a long time, autopsies were performed and signs of unnatural death were looked for in some corpses..
The oldest formal antecedent known to these studies of death occurred in the 16th century, in Germany, when Charles V promulgated the Carolina Law..
This law obliged the experts of the time, usually barber-surgeons, to analyze the corpses when there was suspicion that a murder had occurred. Four years later, Francis I of France approved an ordinance to organize the practice of legal medicine.
Forensic thanatology is responsible for studying the state of the body of a deceased person. Within this examination, the analysis of the body changes that occur after death stands out..
This discipline is framed within legal medicine and tries to find answers to when the death occurred, what was its cause and what means were used to cause death. All this is intended to provide data in cases in which the intervention of justice is necessary..
The first thing the forensic thanatology expert must do is classify the death. For this purpose, the following categories have been defined:
Forensic thanatology has as one of its main objectives to find in what phase of decomposition the corpse is. Thanks to this, the moment of death can be known, something very important in the legal field.
The stages through which the corpse passes from the moment of its death are:
The doctor must take into account the existence of factors that can affect the speed at which the different stages occur, such as the presence of water or humidity (which accelerates the process) in the place where the corpse has remained before being found.
Faced with violent deaths, easy to identify, forensic thanatology sometimes has to face other types of deaths that can represent a challenge for the professional.
These are suspicious deaths, in which the coroner doubts about their cause despite the absence of clear external signs of violence. Within this type of death are sudden death, death caused by hunger or thirst or caused by an allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).
The work of the forensic doctor in finding the necessary evidence to classify the death as natural or caused.
The death of any individual entails, in addition to the personal consequences for their relatives, a series of legal procedures. Even in cases of natural death, situations such as the extinction of obligations, changes of ownership, rights to widowhood pensions, etc. are generated..
If the death has been caused, the legal mechanism that is put in place is even more extensive, since the perpetrator must be investigated and the evidence found for him to be tried..
In both cases, forensic thanatology plays a fundamental role. Thus, you must certify the death, decide the cause and, if necessary, provide the necessary information to resolve any legal conflict..
This branch of the discipline is in charge of studying all the changes that occur in the corpse from the moment of its death..
Coroners must analyze factors such as body temperature, stiffness, lividity, rottenness, or dehydration.
The chronotanatodiagnosis is responsible for answering two of the key questions about a death: when and where did it occur.
For this, the transformations that the corpse presents are analyzed and, based on them, the moment of death is calculated.
These are the laws that determine how the body should be handled, as well as all the legal and administrative procedures related to the death..
Better known as an autopsy, it is about studying the different parts of the corpse to find the causes of death and the circumstances in which it occurred..
Once death has occurred, a large number of organisms develop within the human body, which appear with a specific chronology.
Biotanatology is in charge of studying the appearance of these organisms, with which it provides fundamental data to know the date of death.
Within this branch there is its own division in charge of studying arthropods and insects that develop inside the body: forensic entomology.
The last branch of forensic thanatology in embalsamology, which is responsible for studying and applying the different existing methods to preserve corpses.
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