Forensic Science SA and School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Australia.
Med Sci Law. 2021 Apr;61(2):118-121. doi: 10.1177/0025802420973538. Epub 2020 Nov 20.
Although the increasing popularity of tattoos has challenged the previous associations with criminality and psychiatric illness, particular subsets of tattooed individuals may still have an association with unnatural deaths in a forensic context. A retrospective review of the autopsy database at Forensic Science South Australia was undertaken over a 23-year period from 1997 to 2019 for cases with swastika tattoos. Twenty-six cases (23 males and 3 females) were identified, ranging in age from 19 to 67 years ( = 36 years). The cases comprised seven (27%) suicides, seven (27%) accidents (including five vehicle crashes), five (19%) drug-related deaths (toxicity/overdose), four (15.4%) natural deaths and three (11.5%) homicides. There were significantly more unnatural deaths in the group with swastika tattoos compared to tattooed controls ( < 0.01). Multiple swastikas, expletives and white supremacist sentiments were also present in a number of cases. However, in one Asian male, the presence of a sacred Buddhist tattoo suggested that the swastika tattoo instead had religious rather than antisocial/racist significance. This study shows that in the population of individuals undergoing forensic autopsies, subgroups may be identified by their tattoos who have a predisposition to violent and unnatural death. Evaluation of this risk has to be tempered by considering the cultural/religious background of a decedent, as the symbol may have completely different connotations for certain religious groups such as Jains, Hindus and Buddhists.
尽管纹身的日益普及挑战了之前与犯罪和精神疾病的关联，但在法医学背景下，某些特定的纹身人群可能仍然与非自然死亡有关。对南澳大利亚法医科学数据库进行了一项回顾性研究，该研究在 1997 年至 2019 年的 23 年间对带有万字纹身的案例进行了研究。共确定了 26 例（23 名男性和 3 名女性），年龄从 19 岁到 67 岁不等（= 36 岁）。这些案例包括 7 例（27%）自杀、7 例（27%）事故（包括 5 例车辆事故）、5 例（19%）与药物相关的死亡（毒性/过量）、4 例（15.4%）自然死亡和 3 例（11.5%）凶杀案。与有万字纹身的组相比，带有万字纹身的组中非自然死亡的人数明显更多（<0.01）。在许多案例中，还存在多个万字、咒骂和白人至上主义情绪。然而，在一名亚裔男性中，存在神圣的佛教纹身表明，万字纹身具有宗教意义，而不是反社会/种族主义意义。这项研究表明，在接受法医解剖的人群中，可以通过他们的纹身识别出具有暴力和非自然死亡倾向的亚组。评估这种风险必须考虑到死者的文化/宗教背景，因为对于某些宗教团体（如耆那教、印度教和佛教）来说，该符号可能具有完全不同的含义。
