Gabitoscopy is a science that serves as a tool in forensic science to identify a person by their appearance. The description of a criminal, a witness to a crime or a victim is compiled by an arbitrary method or using systematized methods (special terminology, compositions from typical elements of a face, and others). Currently, computer methods of modeling appearance are also widely used.
General Description
Gabitoscopy is one of the branches of forensics that uses the external signs of a person to fight crime. The name of this term comes from two Latin words: habitus - "appearance" and skopeo - "to study".
The forensic habitoscopy is based on two most important properties - individuality and relative stability. Each person has their own unique appearance. Even in cases of significant similarity, distinctive features can always be found. Absolutely identical objects indoes not exist in the environment. Differences in appearance are also present in monozygotic twins when fertilizing the same egg.
Under the relative stability of appearance is understood the property of maintaining the characteristics of a person's appearance for a certain period of time. Change in appearance occurs throughout human life as a result of the growth of the organism, in the process of aging and after illness. However, such patterns of transformation are well studied and do not prevent the use of these data in forensic science. The investigation of crimes is most often limited to procedural terms during which the appearance changes insignificantly (with the exception of cases of its deliberate alteration with the help of cosmetology and surgery).
Object of habitoscopy
The subjects of habitoscopy in forensics include the following:
- signs and properties of the appearance and structure of the body that can be used in the investigation of a crime;
- physiological principles of the formation and external expression of individual characteristics;
- methods and means of collecting, processing and applying these features in forensics;
- portrait examination techniques.
Tasks
All habitoscopy tasks are classified into 3 groups:
- The main goal is the development and improvement of methods and techniques for using the signs and properties of appearance in the investigation of crimes.
- General tasks - development of theory, terminology andpractical methods, the introduction of the latest achievements of science, the improvement of the tactics of investigative actions, the creation of computer methods for processing data for their further application, the generalization and systematization of the experience gained in habitoscopy.
- Specific tasks (for example, comparative comparison of photographs by optical overlay using computer technology).
Gabitoscopy is also used to solve the following narrow tasks:
- search for people who were present at the scene of the crime, according to information available about their appearance;
- search for fugitives who escaped from places of detention;
- search for missing people;
- identification of living or dead persons.
Development history
Habitoscopy is a science whose roots go back centuries. Even in ancient Egypt, there was a practice of verbal depiction of a person's appearance, which included 2 types of characteristics:
- brief description: age and features;
- detailed description: height, figure, face shape, small features (scars, moles, warts), hair color, eyes and other characteristics.
In many countries until the 20th century, deliberate infliction of bodily harm was used to identify criminals - they cut off their fingers, hands, cut off their noses, ears, and branded them in a conspicuous place of the body. So, in Russia, it was practiced to apply signs in the form of a rectangle with the letter "B" or "B" for thieves and riotersaccordingly, and the killers were branded with the image of the country's coat of arms. The description of the appearance of the criminals was also entered into the registry books.
The first attempts at systematization in the history of habitoscopy were made at the beginning of the 19th century in France. A special card was created for each criminal known to the police, in which their signs were indicated. They were systematized by decades and in alphabetical order. In the 40s. 19th century such cards began to be replenished with photographs, which greatly facilitated the work in identifying criminals who, during detention, often called themselves by other names in order to avoid justice.
The main principles of anthropometry were laid down by A. Bertillon. His developments became the basis of habitoscopy in modern forensics. In 1879, he proposed a method for identifying criminals, which consisted in measuring several parameters of the skeleton (standing and sitting height, arm span, head and right ear sizes, foot length, middle finger, little finger, forearm and the distance between the cheekbones, as well as other features). Such a system has become a reliable tool for personal identification. He also developed the method of verbal portrait, which in the 30s. 20th century became one of the mandatory methods of criminal registration work. The description of the criminal's appearance now had to be made not in an arbitrary way, but using special terms that facilitate the systematization of data.
Further development of habitoscopy is associated with the beginning of the applicationtechnique of composite portraits, developed in 1956. It consisted in compiling an image of a face from individual most similar photographic fragments. The overall composition was called the identikit. In the search for criminals, this was the first attempt to increase the effectiveness of the use of signs of appearance obtained by interviewing witnesses and victims.
Later, special devices were developed for compiling such portraits, which were drawn in layers on transparent films, and then, if necessary, manually retouched. With the development of computer technology in habitoscopy and forensics, this procedure has been greatly simplified thanks to graphic software. Currently, video recordings obtained from video surveillance systems are increasingly being used to identify criminals.
Feature system
Habitoscopy is a section of forensics in which all external signs are divided into 2 large groups - own (the structure of the human body) and related. Own elements, in turn, are divided into 3 categories:
- general physical;
- anatomical;
- functional.
Associated signs complement their own and are not manifestations of his life. These include elements of clothing and accessories, other items that help to fully shape the image of a person. All of these signs are forensically significant.
General physical signs
The general physical description of a person's appearance in habitoscopy includes:
- female ormale gender;
- age, which is determined by witnesses "in appearance";
- anthropological type, belonging to a race or ethnic group with characteristic specific features of appearance (Asian, Caucasian, Negroid and others).
Anatomical elements
The following anatomical features-elements of appearance are distinguished:
- The height of a person in a standing and sitting position. Growth is usually characterized by seven degrees of gradation.
- Proportions and features of body parts (body types).
- The condition and color of the skin, the presence of folds, distinctive features.
- General shape and height of the head.
- Face. The shape, dimensions of the entire face and the relative position of its individual elements - forehead, nose, cheekbones, eyebrows, mouth, chin. The presence of pronounced wrinkles, skin folds.
- Eyes. Length, degree of opening and shape of the palpebral fissure, relative position, color, protrusion from the orbits, density of eyelashes, degree of overhang of the eyelids.
- Teeth. The relationship of the dentition, their size, various defects, the presence of crowns, prostheses, the color of the enamel.
- The size and shape of the ears, the degree of their protrusion.
- Neck measurements.
- The shape and width of the shoulders, pelvis, chest and back.
- Arms and legs. Length and thickness in full, as well as separately brushes, feet, fingers, characteristics of nails).
- Hairline. Density, color, stiffness, shape, configuration, presence, location and shape of bald patches, mustaches, beards, sideburns.
- Special signs - wrinkles, blemishes, scars and others.
Functional features
Functional elements in forensic habitoscopy include:
- Characteristic habitual posture.
- Gait (fast or slow, wide or short steps, the degree of elevation of the feet, swinging arms and other features).
- Mimicry (movements of facial muscles in various emotional states).
- Articulation of the lips during speech.
- Gesticulation (excessive movements of the head, limbs when talking).
- Special signs - painful movements of the muscles of the neck, face and other parts of the body (twitching of the eyelids, ticking of the head, tremor of the hands, etc.), household habits, work skills when using any tools.
In this case, not random, but steady movements matter.
Display methods
Gabitoscopy is a branch of forensic science that describes the appearance using two main methods - subjective and objective. The first type of display includes a mental image, which is fixed with the help of a verbal description or drawing. Their reliability strongly depends on external conditions and individual characteristics of perception.
Objective mappings are obtained instrumentally. These include photo and video images, full-scale casts and traces, x-rays. They are much more authentic.
Types of subjective descriptions
In the practice of forensic habitoscopy, the following types of subjective descriptions are used:
- Arbitrary. Itproduced with the help of words and expressions used in everyday speech. To clarify such a description, visual albums are used to characterize the normal values of the signs.
- Systematized (method of verbal portrait). It is produced according to a certain technique using special terminology.
A verbal portrait is made up with the following rules:
- description is done in relation to the normal position of the body;
- signs characterize from several angles;
- the sequences are observed: from general to particular (from general physical elements to anatomical), from top to bottom;
- at the end they fix catchy, special signs.
Subjective portrait
In modern habitoscopy, there are 4 types of subjective portraits:
- drawn;
- composed using typed drawings (composite-drawn);
- formed from fragments of photographs (compositional photographic, identikit);
- "live", in which, according to the description of eyewitnesses, a person is put on makeup, who is then photographed or filmed.
In any case, the development of a portrait goes through 3 stages:
- Preparatory. The characteristics of the eyewitness himself and the conditions in which he contacted the criminal are studied. Optimal working conditions are created, an arbitrary description is drawn up.
- Production of the original version. Clarification of details, revision, coordination of the final image with eyewitnesses.
- Design. Drawing up an approved certificate for a portrait, designing a photo table with intermediate options.
Subjective portraits are also used to identify dead people and to reconstruct the appearance from the skull.
Portrait expertise
Portrait examination and habitoscopy are studied within the same area of forensic technology, since they are characterized by the same object of study - the appearance of a person and the patterns of its display. A portrait examination is one of the types of examination that is carried out to establish an identity based on the signs of an external appearance captured in a photo, video or using other methods. The basis for its implementation is the decision of the investigator or the decision of the court. The examination is carried out during the period of time from the initiation of a criminal case until the moment when the court verdict enters into full legal force.
Researchers count more than 50 large elements of the face, and there are more than 850 of them in total. Considering that each feature of the appearance description in habitoscopy is characterized in at least three ways (large, normal, small, or according to other criteria), then the totality of all options in number exceeds 9,000. This fact makes it possible to distinguish each person from the mass of other people.
Portrait examination is important in the investigation of criminal cases. It allows you to solve the following tasks:
- wanted by identikit;
- identification of criminals, witnesses,suspects killed by unidentified corpses;
- solving the issue of ownership of identity documents of their owner;
- determination by visual signs of chronic diseases for further use of this information for investigative purposes.
In the presence of special elements of appearance, in some cases, identification can be done by the image of a part of the face or another area of the body.
Identification periods
The concept of habitoscopy is closely connected with identification periods, which are understood as stages in a person's life when his appearance signs are relatively stable. Their rate of change is not the same. At an older age, the duration of such periods increases and reaches 20 years. In the first years of life, a significant transformation of the appearance occurs due to the accelerated development of the facial part of the skull. At the same time, some elements remain unchanged (for example, the structure of the auricle, the contour of the palpebral fissure, and others).
In the simplified scheme of identification periods, the following stages are distinguished:
- Early childhood (under 7). The dynamics of changes in appearance is very high. This is especially true for the size of the face and brain region of the skull.
- Period of second childhood (8-12 years). The pace of change in external signs is becoming less intense.
- Adolescence (12-17 years old) and youth (17-20 years old). At this time, the most pronounced transformations of appearance are observed, the maintraits that persist into old age. The lower jaw grows faster than the rest of the face. The nose and upper jaw also grow rapidly, the severity of the fold of the upper eyelid decreases. The size and protrusion of the auricle change.
- Young age (20-25 years). Signs of appearance become relatively stable. The skin of the face and hair are most susceptible to changes.
- Maturity (25-45 years). There is a coarsening of facial features, sweet skin becomes deeper, and its soft parts also change. The face begins to look more massive. Such changes are especially pronounced in people who are very fat.
- Old age (45-60 years). After 50 years, the period of withering begins and the previous changes proceed faster.
- Old age (60-75 years).
- Old age (75-80 years).
- Decrepit (over 80).
Changing face elements
Facial features and scalp undergo the following transformations with age:
- At the age of 20-25, the position of the hairline near the forehead changes, and from the age of 35, gray hair appears, hair thins and thins.
- Eyebrows become thick and shaggy with age, but their position is constant.
- Starting from puberty and up to 40 years in men, the relief of the forehead above the bridge of the nose intensifies, it becomes more sloping. After 60 years, the temples recede.
- The nose reaches its maximum size by the age of 30, its height increases, and the tip gradually falls. Due to the growth of cartilage, it also becomeswider.
- The palpebral fissure gradually narrows due to the overhanging of the upper eyelids, after 50 years they cover the outer corner of the eye. In old age, the eyeballs recede and the eye sockets enlarge. The iris brightens.
- The length of the oral fissure gradually increases, and decreases in old age. After the onset of tooth loss, the lips become thinner due to atrophy of the masticatory muscles, the chin rises. With dentures, this phenomenon slows down.
Knowing these features allows you to identify a person from photographs or videos that were taken over a long period of time.
