A husband preserved in mothballs, a vigilante victim encased in red mud, and convicts beaten and burned in a prison riot are only a few of the cases of death examined here by forensic anthropologist Stanley Rhine. Drawing on cases he worked for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, Rhine demonstrates how unidentified skeletal remains indicate race, sex, age, height, and ultimately identity and how the specialist decodes skeletal anomalies to establish cause of death. Blunt trauma, gunshot and knife wounds, and other injuries receive his attention.
Step by step the author explains the techniques used to solve forensic mysteries. At the end of each case, he explains what lessons the forensic anthropologist learns from the bones. Rhine also explores specific problems and tasks: working mass disasters; recovering bodies from the field; defleshing bones; examining charred and badly decomposed remains; testifying before juries; and others.

An international panel of experts from diverse specialties examine the idea of "evil" in a medical context, specifically a mental health setting, to consider how the concept can be usefully interpreted, and to elucidate its relationship to forensic psychiatry. The authors challenge the belief that the concept of "evil" plays no role in "scientific" psychiatry and is not helpful to our understanding of aberrant human thinking and behavior. Among the viewpoints up for debate are a consideration of organizations as evil structures, the "medicalization" of evil, destruction as a constructive choice, violence as a secular evil, talking about evil when it is not supposed to exist, and the influence of evil on forensic clinical practice. Among the highlights are a psychological exploration of the notion of "evil" and a variety of interesting research methods used to explore the nature of "evil."

The aim of this book is to dissect forensic anthropology and forensic pathology in its various and valuable contributions to contemporary society. It gives answers and approaches key questions to this sciences' growing audience within different countries in the recent years. It aims to provide a practical approach to the investigation of bodies that are not fresh enough to be considered a normal forensic case. The specialists of both areas can have in a single book the useful tools and practical recommendations of these specialities (forensic anthropology and forensic pathology) that are spread among other textbooks.

Trauma, War, and Violence: Public Mental Health in Socio-Cultural Context will be of great interest to psychologists, social workers, anthropologists, historians, human rights experts, and psychiatrists working or interested in the field of psychotrauma.
Massive traumatic stress resulting from armed conflict and terrorism is a prime concern of governments, non-government organizations and the United Nations. Yet there is little systematic knowledge of how to address psychological problems of these proportions. These situations are further complicated by the lack of culturally appropriate models for mental health care in many low-income countries.
This volume describes a variety of public mental health and psychosocial programs in conflict and post-conflict situations in Africa and Asia. Each chapter details the psychosocial and mental health aspects of specific conflicts and examines them within their sociopolitical and historical contexts.