University:
Manhattan College
Course:
PSYC 257 | Forensic Psychology
Academic year:

2023
Views:

237

Pages:

2
Author:

Anabel Salas

Critical Thinking Questions 1. What characteristics do substances often have that make them attractive as a poison when someone wants to intentionally harm another person? Ideally, they’re looking for a substance that has minimal trace characteristics. Meaning substances with little-to-no smell or taste. In most cases, they also want a fast-acting poison circumstantially. 2. Describe three different samples that can be used to test for poisons. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these samples? Blood, gastric contents, and hair are all samples that can be used to test for poisons. The advantages of hair samples are the period in which tests can be run. Tests can be run to detect substances after months, depending on certain conditions that the strand may contain. A disadvantage of hair samples would be that the strands can be easily contaminated. For blood samples, an advantage of them would be that they are the most accurate sample in determining the mass of a substance. However, the disadvantage of blood samples is the fact that it is common that it may contain urine or other fluids of the body. The advantages of gastric contents are the high concentration of analytes and/or the biotransformation deficiency. Antemortem features would be the only disadvantage, but it is circumstantial. 3. Why are poisons used less today than they were in the past? What factors influenced this change? Similar to any other methods we have today, I feel that there is more intimidation to attempt to harm someone today as opposed to several years ago, solely because it is harder to get away with today with the many new testing and/or processes that we have developed. 4. In addition to samples taken from a body, what other information or evidence could point to poisoning as the cause of death? At first glance of the body, things like the pigmentation of the skin can be indicative of poisoning. Further along, the autopsy report could show signs of substances within any of the organs. 5. What are the challenges for forensic scientists in identifying poisons? Multiple poisons contain the same elements, meaning that it may have shown that the victim was showing signs of Poison A, but the characteristics that were indicative of Poison A could also be applied to Poison B. therefore, the process of elimination between the two (or however many poisons would be applicable) is required to identify what poison it was exactly.

Critical Thinking - My Forensic Psychology Assignment

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