University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 9-21-2018 A Critical Approach to Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology: an Assessment of Fordisc 3.1 and AncesTrees Carmen Bryanne Skalic University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Skalic, Carmen Bryanne, "A Critical Approach to Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology: an Assessment of Fordisc 3.1 and AncesTrees" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7571. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7571 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. A Critical Approach to Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology: An Assessment of Fordisc 3.1 and AncesTrees By Carmen Skalic A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2018 © 2018 Carmen Skalic A Critical Approach to Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology: An Assessment of Fordisc 3.1 and AncesTrees by Carmen Skalic APPROVED BY: ______________________________________________ C. Hundleby Department of Philosophy ______________________________________________ J. Ku Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology ______________________________________________ J. Albanese, Advisor Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology September 14th, 2018 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. iii ABSTRACT Many forensic anthropologists and law enforcement agencies are still using racial categories for identification purposes since it aids in narrowing the search for identifying an individual and also aids the public when a description of an unknown is given in hopes that someone will identify them. Forensic techniques have been developed based on biased race determination methods that do not work. Problems are then created when discussing the topic of race because race can mean many different things to any one individual, especially to anthropologists who cannot find a common methodology to determine “race” within these police investigations. Due to this, the computer software accuracy of AncesTrees and Fordisc used be forensic anthropologists in these investigations has come into question. This thesis explores the use of race within forensic anthropology and criminology (specifically police forces). The results from this thesis show that race is a social construct and promotes racialization for investigators and forensic anthropologists and does not prove to be beneficial in identification investigations. iv DEDICATION To my loving and supportive mother and father – thank you for being there for me throughout my academic journey. Everything that I have accomplished is because of the love and belief that you had in me and for that, I am truly grateful. Without the two of you, none of this would have been possible. To my amazing brother and sister – thank you for always being an inspiration, even if you were not aware of it. I will forever have two best friends who I will love unconditionally and continue to guide and assist in all your life’s adventures. To my incredible grandparents – thank you for your prayers and wise words to help me realize that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. Your stories and lives have continued to provide me wisdom and guidance and I will always cherish all the lessons you have taught me. To all those who have been there for me throughout this chapter – thank you for always supporting and encouraging me to get where I am today. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I’d like to thank my advisor, Dr. John Albanese, for all of his support and confidence in me. Your interest and valuable guidance has allowed for me to do this research with confidence and hope that this could be the beginning of a great topic trend within forensics and anthropology. Your input and encouragement was and is always appreciated. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. Jane Ku and Dr Catherine Hundleby for their interest in and their commitment to my research. Both of their input and suggestions were greatly appreciated. Finally, to all of my peers and colleagues in the graduate program, thank you for the support and encouragement throughout this process. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY .......................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Background and Literature Review .................................................................................4 Methodology .....................................................................................................................15 Results ...............................................................................................................................19 Discussion .........................................................................................................................20 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................24 References .........................................................................................................................25 Appendix A: Table of Cranial Measurements Used .....................................................37 Appendix B: Excel Spreadsheet with Specimen ID and Cranial Measurements ......38 Appendix C: AncesTrees Computer Program ..............................................................39 Appendix D: Fordisc Computer Program .....................................................................40 Appendix E: Results ........................................................................................................41 Appendix F: Tables of Populations in Fordisc ..............................................................43 Vita Auctoris .....................................................................................................................45 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Accuracy of AncesTrees for Group One and Two 41 Table 2:Accuracy of Fordisc using Howell's Data for the Top Two Groups 41 Table 3:Accuracy of Fordisc using FDB for the Top Group 41 Table 4: Maximum number of cases in Forensic Data Bank Groups 43 Table 5: Table of Howell's Groups in Fordisc 44 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: AncesTrees Number of Possible and Not Possible Race Prediction 19 Figure 2: Fordisc using Howell's Data of Possible and Not Possible Race Prediction 19 Figure 3: Description of standard osteological measurements 37 Figure 4: Excel spreadsheet provided by Dr. John Albanese 38 Figure 5: Howell's 30 Measurements used in AncesTrees 39 Figure 6: Fordisc – Howell’s Databank 40 Figure 7: Fordisc – FDB 40 Figure 8: AncesTrees Results page 42 Figure 9: Fordisc – Howell’s Databank Results page 42 Figure 10: Fordisc – FDB Results page 42 ix Introduction Forensic anthropology