Civil society stakeholder views on forensic DNA phenotyping: balancing risks and benefits
Civil society stakeholder views on forensic DNA phenotyping: balancing risks and benefits
Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is an umbrella term for practices seeking to infer likely phenotypic characteristics based on crime scene DNA. Specifically, it is intended to help criminal investigators find an unknown suspected perpetrator by providing information about what the suspected perpetrator may look like based on the analysis of DNA left at the crime scene. While many purport the usefulness of FDP in this regard, its probabilistic nature, as well as its ability to disclose information about an individual that may be considered private raises a range of ethical and social concerns. This paper reports findings from interviews with thirty civil society stakeholders across nine European countries. Our findings reflect the wide variation of views in Europe regarding if, when and/or how the technology should be used in the criminal justice system, and we illustrate this by presenting the different ways in which our participants strike a balance between the potential usefulness of the technology, and the various ethical and social considerations.
Ancestry testing, DNA, Discrimination, Ethics, Forensic DNA phenotyping, Forensics, Interviews, Molecular photofitting, Privacy, Public engagement, Qualitative research
Samuel, Gabrielle Natalie
66af6213-08de-4c0e-92c1-12083ec456e3
Prainsack, Barbara
8997c43a-6d8b-454f-92b3-62f1b16b2291
November 2019
Samuel, Gabrielle Natalie
66af6213-08de-4c0e-92c1-12083ec456e3
Prainsack, Barbara
8997c43a-6d8b-454f-92b3-62f1b16b2291
Samuel, Gabrielle Natalie and Prainsack, Barbara
(2019)
Civil society stakeholder views on forensic DNA phenotyping: balancing risks and benefits.
Forensic Science International-Genetics, 43, [102157].
(doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.102157).
Abstract
Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is an umbrella term for practices seeking to infer likely phenotypic characteristics based on crime scene DNA. Specifically, it is intended to help criminal investigators find an unknown suspected perpetrator by providing information about what the suspected perpetrator may look like based on the analysis of DNA left at the crime scene. While many purport the usefulness of FDP in this regard, its probabilistic nature, as well as its ability to disclose information about an individual that may be considered private raises a range of ethical and social concerns. This paper reports findings from interviews with thirty civil society stakeholders across nine European countries. Our findings reflect the wide variation of views in Europe regarding if, when and/or how the technology should be used in the criminal justice system, and we illustrate this by presenting the different ways in which our participants strike a balance between the potential usefulness of the technology, and the various ethical and social considerations.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 27 August 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 28 August 2019
Published date: November 2019
Additional Information:
M1 - 102157
Keywords:
Ancestry testing, DNA, Discrimination, Ethics, Forensic DNA phenotyping, Forensics, Interviews, Molecular photofitting, Privacy, Public engagement, Qualitative research
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 451234
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451234
ISSN: 1872-4973
PURE UUID: b8a762ea-01f2-4141-81c9-8514f1588995
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 14 Sep 2021 20:15
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 10:28
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Barbara Prainsack
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics