Paper short abstract:

Using case studies from Bosnia, the World Trade Center and Haiti, this paper will explore the role of the forensic anthropologist within mass fatality incidents and disasters and consider the complex issues surrounding the needs and expectations of victims’ families when juxtaposed with the pragmatic, and sometimes harsh, reality of the scientific process of the identification of human remains.

Paper long abstract:

Forensic anthropology and its role in the scientific analysis and identification of human remains has increasingly become one of the dominant methodologies in the investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Mass fatality events caused by natural disasters and terrorist incidents and the subsequent media coverage and indeed public fascination that these attract have also served to place the discipline of forensic anthropology to the forefront of public awareness and imagination.

However, in some quarters and within some cultural and social contexts, this heightened public awareness and fascination encourages a concomitant increase in expectation with regard to the ability of scientific analysis and forensic investigation to identify and return the body of one's loved one. It is often the case that after a mass fatality incident, particularly those that attract global media attention and are seen to initiate and galvanise an immediate international response, the drive to find and identify the missing rapidly builds the expectations of communities, families and individuals. These expectations are often in conflict and cannot ultimately withstand the reality of the length of time that the disaster victim identification process may take.

Using case studies from Bosnia, the World Trade Center and Haiti, this paper will explore the role of the forensic anthropologist within mass fatality disasters and consider the complex issues surrounding the needs and expectations of victims' families when juxtaposed with the pragmatic, sometimes harsh reality, of the scientific process of the identification of human remains.