Juvenile Skeleton in Forensic Abuse Investigations

• Introduction.- Fatal Child Maltreatment: The Challenges of Identifying the Causes and Incidence of Deaths from Abuse and Neglect.- Basic Juvenile Skeletal Anatomy and Growth and Development.- Biomechanical and Remodeling Factors in the Interpretation of Fractures in Juveniles.- Birth Trauma.- Nonaccidental Trauma.- Scene Investigation in Juvenile Death.- Medicolegal Issues of Battered Baby Syndrome.- Evidence of Neglect from Immature Human Skeletal Remains:  An Auxological Approach from Bones and Teeth.- Fatal Starvation/Malnutrition: Medicolegal Investigation from the Juvenile Skeleton.- Juvenile Stature Estimation: A Chilean Perspective.- Bone Weathering of Juvenile Sized Remains in the NC Piedmont.

From the reviews: "Since the book's twelve chapters were written by anthropologists and other specialists in their respective disciplines, it offers a broad variety of topics and demonstrates the multidisciplinary investigative approach in cases of juvenile skeleton trauma very well. This is a very interesting book for all professionals dealing with children who were subject to neglect and/or abuse." (Saskia S. Guddat, Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 8, 2012) "This is a review of the current state of knowledge regarding investigating the juvenile skeleton in cases of abuse. ... It is written for an audience of forensic investigators, ranging from medical death investigators to forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists. The book covers many different aspects of death investigation in cases of suspected child abuse. ... This is a useful primer that provides a good introduction to the techniques available for the evaluation of abuse in the juvenile skeleton." (Jennifer Forsyth, Doody's Book Reviews, December, 2011)