Towards a forensic anthropology of structural vulnerability

Anthropologists have theorized structural vulnerability as a way to understand forms of violence that disenfranchise certain parts of a population, leading to poorer health outcomes and increased risk of death. Recently, forensic anthropologists have used these theories to better understand the ways in which individual decedents in forensic contexts may be linked collectively through structural conditions. A recent example is the proposal of a “structural vulnerability profile.” Based on research and casework done in the context of migrant deaths along the US-Mexico border, we caution against the use of a “profile,” which suggests a categorical approach that could lead to negative unintended consequences in the future. Instead, we argue for continued development of practices that allow for observation, documentation, and interdisciplinary discussion of evidence of structural violence revealed during a death investigation. Specifically, we argue for an approach that grounds such observations within a particular social and historical context.