Violence

VIOLENCE in the broad sense of the word, i.e., the effect of external harmful factors on a living organism (mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical discharges, psychic shocks, etc.), disrupting to one degree or another the anatomical integrity or physiological function of various organs and tissues, can lead to impairment of health and to death, and also often leaves behind traces on the skin, the so-called signs of violence. By violence in the narrow sense of the word is understood the influence of mechanical factors, such as: blow, pressure, concussion from a fall, etc., as a result of which injuries arise that are sometimes superficial and light, sometimes deeper and more severe. The former include abrasions, bruises (ecchymoses), cuts, as well as various traces on the skin from previous pressure. Signs of violence are of great importance in forensic-medical regard. Their presence on the body during the examination of living persons confirms the latter's statement about being beaten, and during the external examination of corpses can indicate the possibility of violent death, and sometimes small violations of skin integrity at the site of application of force are accompanied by extensive damage to deeper-lying parts (muscles, bones, internal organs). Furthermore, the shape of the signs of violence can give an idea of the properties of the damaging weapon, of the method of its use, e.g., impressions on the skin from the pressure of nails, teeth (bites); long bruised stripes from beating with rods, from blows with belts, sticks; rounded bruises from the compression of the skin by fingers; long stripe-like brownish-red, yellow areas of abraded skin—traces of the action of tram wheels, train wheels, etc., upon it. The shape and other features of the signs of violence, their arrangement, and location in many cases are quite characteristic for a certain type of violence, as well as for distinguishing murder from suicide. In particular, the trace from the pressure of a noose on the neck (strangulation furrow) is observed in self-hanging, strangulation by a noose; the position and other properties of the furrow help establish the fact of self-hanging. In asphyxiation by hand, abrasions, bruises, and crescent-shaped nail scratches are frequently encountered on the skin of the face around the openings of the mouth and nose, as well as on the neck on both sides of the larynx. Signs of violence on the genital parts of a woman, bruises from finger pressure on the inner surface of the thighs are evidence confirming the available data in rape cases. Abrasions on the back of the hands, cuts on the palms, on the fingers can indicate a previous struggle and bear a special name according to their location: signs of struggle and self-defense. Conversely, cuts in the area of the wrist joints, where the pulse is felt, speak in favor of an attempt at suicide. Other signs of violence in the broad sense of the word, such as burns from the action of caustic substances, hot liquids, gases, from the action of electrical energy, frostbite in death from low temperature, etc., have essential significance in forensic-medical practice for the diagnosis of the type of violent death. The absence of signs of violence in connection with pathological changes in organs vital for life makes it possible to establish the fact of death as non-violent, natural, often sudden (paralysis of a diseased heart, spontaneous hemorrhage into the brain, spontaneous rupture of an aortic aneurysm, acute hemorrhage from a pulmonary cavity, from a round ulcer of the stomach, croupous pneumonia, etc.).