Komar Debra, Lathrop Sarah
Office of the Medical Investigator, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2008 Dec;29(4):285-9. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e31818736f3.
Tattoos serve as a form of forensic personal identification and providing evidence of possible gang affiliation, incarceration history, and high-risk lifestyle factors such as drug use. Despite their forensic applications, tattoo typology and frequencies in specific ethnic and racial groups are underreported and poorly understood. This study examined autopsy records from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator from 2002 to 2005. A total of 3430 individuals (1666 white Hispanics; 1764 white non-Hispanics), aged 18 to 100 years, with homicidal or accidental manners of death were included in the study. In addition to demographic information, data were recorded on the presence/absence of tattoos, singular or multiple tattoos, and the language of text tattoos. Tattoos depicting gang or religious symbolism were also recorded. Results indicate statistically significant differences in tattoo frequencies by ethnicity (52% Hispanic vs. 29.5% non-Hispanic), sex (46.8% men vs. 25.9% women) and age cohort. Hispanics were more likely to have multiple tattoos than non-Hispanics (41% and 19%, respectively), and were 4.67 times more likely to have a religious tattoo and 7.13 times more likely to have a gang tattoo than non-Hispanics. Significant patterns in language of text tattoos and correlations with manner of death were also noted.
纹身可作为一种法医个人识别方式，并能提供可能的帮派关联、监禁史以及吸毒等高风险生活方式因素的证据。尽管纹身有法医应用价值，但特定族裔和种族群体中的纹身类型和频率报告不足且了解甚少。本研究检查了新墨西哥州医学调查员办公室2002年至2005年的尸检记录。共有3430名年龄在18至100岁之间、死于他杀或意外的个体（1666名西班牙裔白人；1764名非西班牙裔白人）纳入研究。除人口统计学信息外，还记录了纹身的有无、单个或多个纹身以及文字纹身的语言。还记录了描绘帮派或宗教象征意义的纹身。结果表明，按种族（西班牙裔52% 对非西班牙裔29.5%）、性别（男性46.8% 对女性25.9%）和年龄组划分，纹身频率存在统计学上的显著差异。西班牙裔比非西班牙裔更有可能有多个纹身（分别为41%和19%），拥有宗教纹身的可能性是非西班牙裔的4.67倍，拥有帮派纹身的可能性是非西班牙裔的7.13倍。还注意到文字纹身语言的显著模式以及与死亡方式的相关性。
