The Forensic and Cultural Implications of Tattooing

Abstract

Tattooing for decorative purposes has occurred in most communities for many thousands of years. Tattoos have been used as an indicator of high status, or have been used to mark slaves and prisoners indelibly. In tribal communities, elaborate tattooing rituals have been associated with rites of passage into adulthood. Tattooing may be inadvertent, associated with occupations such as welding or coal mining, and has been used in medicine to mark anatomical locations to assist with radiotherapy, or to identify an area that requires careful re-examination at follow-up. Clubs, street gangs and criminal organisations, such as the Yakuza in Japan, have all used tattoos as markers of membership. In the forensic environment, tattoos can be extremely useful in assisting with body identification, and in giving an indication of possible life styles and history. For example, commemorative military tattoos are most often found in war veterans, rudimentary line tattoos with antisocial and anti-police messages often indicate previous imprisonment, and marihuana leaves, mushrooms or “ecstasy” suggest drug usage. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in tattoos in Western countries, particularly among the young, and so there will be more cases seen in mortuaries in the future where particular tattoos may be found to assist with identification.