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Forensic Pathology of Infancy and Childhood pp 1–25Cite as

A History of Pediatric Forensic Pathology

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Abstract

In contemporary society, few news items provoke the shock and outrage that follow reports of child abuse and murder. So visceral is this response that it would be easy to assume that all peoples throughout history have felt the same way. This is not the case. Throughout much of history, children in almost all societies have been exploited, abused, conscripted, and murdered often by those closest to them and often without any consequences. Prior to the advent of effective public health measures, vaccination programs, and antibiotics, the high rate of infant and child mortality caused by natural diseases provided cover for the widespread practice of infanticide. Society and the medical community were painfully slow to recognize the problem. It is telling that charitable organizations created to protect the welfare of animals predate societies for the prevention of cruelty to children. If pediatrics is a relatively new medical specialty (the American Academy of Pediatrics was established in 1930), then pediatric pathology (Paediatric Pathology Society, founded in 1955) is very recent, and pediatric forensic pathology is still in its infancy. Much has been accomplished in a very short time, but recent reviews of the field (e.g., the Goudge Report) highlight how much remains to be done to firmly establish pediatric forensic pathology as a mature specialty.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank medical librarians Jennifer Campbell and Bridget Gunn for their valuable research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Hospital of Central Connecticut, 100 Grand Street, New Britain, CT, 06050, USA

    Harold Sanchez

Authors
  1. Harold Sanchez
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Correspondence to Harold Sanchez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Kim A. Collins

  2. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Roger W. Byard

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Sanchez, H. (2014). A History of Pediatric Forensic Pathology. In: Collins, K., Byard, R. (eds) Forensic Pathology of Infancy and Childhood. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-403-2_2

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