Low Down

The thoracic and abdominal viscera are laid on a cutting bench at a convenient height and under good illumination. Ample washing water should be available from a flexible pipe, to flush the tissues as dissection proceeds. Some pathologists maintain that this should not be done, as the water can have an effect on the quality of subsequent histological sections, but this has recently been disproved. In any case, the vastly inferior naked-eye examination that results if blood is not removed at frequent intervals greatly outweighs any unsubstantiated objections about the more exquisite details of cell structure, especially as in most forensic autopsies the gross appearances are usually far more important. The viscera should be laid so that the tongue faces the pathologist, with the aorta upwards. The same sequence of examination should be carried out whatever the nature of the case, so that a fixed routine will ensure that nothing is left undone. The tongue is examined for disease and in...

  A society that stresses conformity, individualism, and hedonism may create confusion and frustration in its members and, at times, plunge them into a moral crisis. Such a type of society reduces reason to mere calculation. “Reason can [then] impose no limits on the pursuit of pleasure, [or] on the immediate gratification of every desire, no matter how perverse, insane, criminal, or merely immoral”. The above social panorama easily brings about behaviors on the part of some individuals that are socially perturbing and unacceptable thus one could opine that such a social climate breeds psychopathic behaviors and, at times, serious criminal acting out. The social and cultural context in which the killer and victims live may be a cofactor in the genesis of serial murder. They stated that “socialization is unfortunately saturated with norms, values, beliefs and behavioral models that carry strong potential for normalizing violence in interpersonal relationships”. Antisocial behavior...