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What Counts for Identity? The Historical Origins of the Methodology of Latent Fingerprint Identification

Bibliographic Data

ID4516244
AuthorsShelley A Cole (0000-0002-1709-6219, Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, corresponding author), Simon Cole
Year1999
Volume12
Issue1
Pages139-172
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889700003343
OpenAlexW2109222200
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited25

The ArgumentTwo parallel traditions have coexisted throughout the history of modern finger print identification. One, which gave more emphasis to the rhetoric of "science," has always been somewhat troubled by the lack of an easily articulated scientific foundation for "dactyloscopy." The other, more concerned with practicalities, was satisfied that the method of fingerprint identification appeared to "work" and that it won widespread legal acceptance. The latter group established conser vative rules of practice to guard against errors and preserve the credibility of latent fingerprint identification in the eyes of the law. The legacy of this history is coming home to roost today, as some latent fingerprint examiners (LFPEs) are beginning to argue that the traditional practice of latent fingerprint comparison lacks a scientific foundation appropriate to contemporary forensic science. This issue raises the question of what constitutes a "scientific" method for individual ized identification in a legal setting

Aesthetics · Biology · Credibility · Epistemology · Linguistics · Political science · Rhetoric · Sociology · Computer Science · Digital and Traditional Archives Management · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Research, Science, and Academia · Twentieth Century Scientific Developments · Artificial Intelligence · Ecology

  • The Emergence of the Silent Witness

    Open Access•Tal Golan•Social Studies of Science•2004

  • First impressions matter

    Open Access•Shelley A Cole, Justin Lucas Sola•Social Studies of Science•2025

  • How Deep is the Skin? The Geneticization of Race and Medicine

    Open Access•Gísli Pálsson•BioSocieties•2007

  • Sex, Ancestral, and pattern type variation of fingerprint minutiae

    Open Access•Nichole A Fournier, Ann H Ro et al.•American Journal of Physical…•2016

  • Construing "Technology" as "Applied Science"

    Ronald R Kline•Isis•1995

  • Collecting, Testing and Convincing

    Open Access•Halfon•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • Contested Identities

    Open Access•Michael Lynch, Michael S Lynch et al.•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • The Discursive Production of Uncertainty

    Open Access•Michael Lynch, Michael S Lynch•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • The Dissemination, Standardization and Routinization of a Molecular Biological Technique

    Open Access•Kathleen Jordan, Michael Lynch et al.•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • Witnessing Identification

    Open Access•Shelley A Cole•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • The Eye of Everyman

    Open Access•Sheila Jasanoff•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • The Evidence Does Not Speak for Itself

    Open Access•Arthur Daemmrich•Social Studies of Science•1998

  • Science at the Bar

    Arthur L Stinchcombe, Sheila Jasanoff•Contemporary Sociology A Journal…•1996

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    Open Access•V A M Kemp, Vicky Kemp•Polar Record•1934

  • Signaletic Instructions, Including the Theory and Practice of Anthropometrical Identification

    Open Access•A T, Alphonse Bertillon et al.•The Journal of the Anthropological…•1897

  • Personal Identification and Description

    Francis Galton•The Journal of the Anthropological…•1889

  • A Social History of Truth

    Steven Shapin•A Social History of Truth•1994

  • Science at the Bar

    Sheila Jasanoff•Science at the Bar•1995

  • In the Backrooms of Science

    Open Access•Stephen R Barley, Beth A Bechky•Work and Occupations•1994

Unique citing works4
Citations per year0,18
Citation span2004 - 2025 (22)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
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