Suspect Identities
A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification
Simon A. Cole(Author)
Harvard University Press
Published on 16. May 2001
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-674-00455-9 (ISBN)
Description
"No two fingerprints are alike," or so it goes. For nearly a hundred years fingerprints have represented definitive proof of individual identity in our society. We trust them to tell us who committed a crime, whether a criminal record exists, and how to resolve questions of disputed identity. But in this text, Simon Cole reveals that the history of criminal identification is far murkier than we have been led to believe. Cole traces the modern system of fingerprint identification to the 19th-century bureaucratic state, and its desire to track and control increasingly mobile, diverse populations whose race or ethnicity made them suspect in the eyes of authorities. In an intriguing history that traverses the globe, taking us to India, Argentina, France, England, and the United States, Cole excavates the forgotten history of criminal identification - from photography to exotic anthropometric systems based on measuring body parts, from finger-printing to DNA typing. He reveals how fingerprinting ultimately won the trust of the public and the law only after a long battle against rival identification systems.
As we rush headlong into the era of genetic identification, and as fingerprint errors are being exposed, this history uncovers the fascinating interplay of our elusive individuality, police and state power, and the quest for scientific certainty.
As we rush headlong into the era of genetic identification, and as fingerprint errors are being exposed, this history uncovers the fascinating interplay of our elusive individuality, police and state power, and the quest for scientific certainty.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 halftones, 10 line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 168 mm
Weight
690 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-00455-9 (9780674004559)
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Schweitzer Classification