This caught my eye right away since I am a fan of the show Dexter. Actually when you go into the site it says "For wanna be Dexter's (minus the serial killing we hope)" So I got a kick out of that.
Blood spatter identification almost seems like an art form, the amazing intricate and complex patterns of red contrasting especially against a white background. Skilled analysts can tell the story of the scene only through blood. It is truly a unique job.
The site listed 5 basic blood spatter types.
1. Angular - Caused by victim being on the move.
2. High Velocity - Caused by external force greater than 100 FPS
3. Hair Impact - Caused by traumatic impact of the head onto a surface.
4. Hair Swipe - Caused by impact of the head and movement.
5. Fabric Swipe - Caused by bloodied clothing, T-shirt weave patterns are the easiest to decipher.
On the #2 High velocity, it said it could also be a sneeze (seriously) and included a link that has a 3 page article about sneezing and forensics! Containing interesting bits of information like: sneezes travel over 100 mph, sneezes can project blood up to twelve feet, and that a sneeze is similar in velocity to a fire-hose being sprayed. It never even occurred to me that a sneeze could get confused for a gunshot spatter!
Going along with this website, I found a video on YouTube that relates to blood splatter. It is a video of a news channel doing a report on a couple of blood splatter experts. This video is very informative and shows a lot of neat techniques. The blood that is used in these different tests is actually human blood! If you are at all interested in blood at the crime scene, this is a great 5 min clip to watch!
Deciphering between all the types of blood splatters is very interesting. It is helpful to relate them to real life events to get a sense of what could happen in crimes. For instance, look at splatter two, this looks like something that could result from hitting a deer on high impact. The website describes it as a diffuse splatter caused by high velocity - an external force greater than 100 ft per second, which definitely relates to the scene of hitting a deer if driving at a fast speed.
I watched the youtube video that was posted in the comment above. This video gave more detail into what sorts of instruments/weapons could cause certain blood splatters such as a blunt object like a hammer. The blood splatter that looked the closest to this would be number 1 from the picture above.
I'm sure a person could probably play around with certain objects and velocities at home like they do in the labs to get a sense of what sorts of events cause certain splatters. Although actually obtaining the blood to do so may be somewhat tricky...
To add to my above post, but it relevation to psychology, I think blood spatter is useful in detecting human behavior, or in the event of a crime -what human behaviors happened at the scene of the crime.
Another huge aspect of psychology relevant to blood spatter is perception and training of actually blood spatter/pattern analysists. BPA's are trained in examining blood splatter in relation to crime; however, based on their training and perceptions, they may be correct or incorrect in their interpretations. In addition, their level of experience or expertise in this area may determine their overall effectiveness, and whether their interpretation is biased or not based on their background or prior knowledge of the case.
In time for Thursday's, please read the following link: http://www.psychologicalscience.com/kim_maclin/2010/01/i-learned-it-at-the-movies.html as well as the 3 resource links at the…
This caught my eye right away since I am a fan of the show Dexter. Actually when you go into the site it says "For wanna be Dexter's (minus the serial killing we hope)" So I got a kick out of that.
Blood spatter identification almost seems like an art form, the amazing intricate and complex patterns of red contrasting especially against a white background. Skilled analysts can tell the story of the scene only through blood. It is truly a unique job.
The site listed 5 basic blood spatter types.
1. Angular - Caused by victim being on the move.
2. High Velocity - Caused by external force greater than 100 FPS
3. Hair Impact - Caused by traumatic impact of the head onto a surface.
4. Hair Swipe - Caused by impact of the head and movement.
5. Fabric Swipe - Caused by bloodied clothing, T-shirt weave patterns are the easiest to decipher.
On the #2 High velocity, it said it could also be a sneeze (seriously) and included a link that has a 3 page article about sneezing and forensics! Containing interesting bits of information like: sneezes travel over 100 mph, sneezes can project blood up to twelve feet, and that a sneeze is similar in velocity to a fire-hose being sprayed. It never even occurred to me that a sneeze could get confused for a gunshot spatter!
Going along with this website, I found a video on YouTube that relates to blood splatter. It is a video of a news channel doing a report on a couple of blood splatter experts. This video is very informative and shows a lot of neat techniques. The blood that is used in these different tests is actually human blood! If you are at all interested in blood at the crime scene, this is a great 5 min clip to watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od8YuwUT794
Deciphering between all the types of blood splatters is very interesting. It is helpful to relate them to real life events to get a sense of what could happen in crimes. For instance, look at splatter two, this looks like something that could result from hitting a deer on high impact. The website describes it as a diffuse splatter caused by high velocity - an external force greater than 100 ft per second, which definitely relates to the scene of hitting a deer if driving at a fast speed.
I watched the youtube video that was posted in the comment above. This video gave more detail into what sorts of instruments/weapons could cause certain blood splatters such as a blunt object like a hammer. The blood splatter that looked the closest to this would be number 1 from the picture above.
I'm sure a person could probably play around with certain objects and velocities at home like they do in the labs to get a sense of what sorts of events cause certain splatters. Although actually obtaining the blood to do so may be somewhat tricky...
To add to my above post, but it relevation to psychology, I think blood spatter is useful in detecting human behavior, or in the event of a crime -what human behaviors happened at the scene of the crime.
Another huge aspect of psychology relevant to blood spatter is perception and training of actually blood spatter/pattern analysists. BPA's are trained in examining blood splatter in relation to crime; however, based on their training and perceptions, they may be correct or incorrect in their interpretations. In addition, their level of experience or expertise in this area may determine their overall effectiveness, and whether their interpretation is biased or not based on their background or prior knowledge of the case.