Journal of Forensic Research

The article sheds light on setting up home as a metaphor for the gradual process of establishing the self through the home. It examines, from the psychoanalytical viewpoint, the ability to internalize the home with all its accoutrements: physical, mental, spiritual, intrapsychic and interpersonal. The forces strengthening the inner home are examined, alongside those threatening to bring it down. The case of Yael, aged 9½, is presented. In the course of therapy, to which Yael arrived with a vulnerable, fragile self, she built structures which were destined to collapse over and over again, thus reenacting the failure in setting up home. In time, a shift took place, with the initial roles of victim and perpetrator being replaced with a much more reciprocal and committed relationship. Yael's sense of self was strengthened, alongside her capacity to distinguish between the inner world and the external reality. Yael began to experience herself in a more vital and authentic manner, while being much more ensconced in a mutual relationship. Although the eventual separation from the therapist was beyond her control, she succeeded in expressing her feelings about the break without withdrawing into herself as part of a schizoid defence mechanism.

Speculations have been made for some time as to what might happen if hybrid techniques were used in conjunctions to enhance fingermarks. The main consideration to date has been imaging, but there appears to have been no studies of the effects of using spectroscopic techniques on a fingermark that has been developed using a chromatographic technique. This is a significant omission as it is likely that the chemical additives inherent in some substrates would confound the spectral information obtainable from the sebaceous components of a fingermark. Four selected chromatographic techniques, Cobalt-2, Ninhydrin, Sticky Side Powder, and Vacuum Metal Deposition, were used to develop fingermarks on substrates containing chemical additives. Apart from Derek (Cobalt 2), a dark grey background, most of the chemical additives used were either at- or near-IR fluorescent. Fingermarks developed on substrates containing the chemical additives were subjected to three types of spectroscopy: IR, RAMAN, and SERS.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of successful MALDI enhancement using VMD on marks which have also been enhanced on cellulose substrates. Previous reports have had success using VMD plate-based devices, although these marks had been developed on non cellulose substrates. MAT-irradiated marks and those treated with failed to enhance. This is likely due to the destruction or masking, respectively, of the peptide bonds that are essential for gold enhancement. Of the treatments that did enhance, a threshold was evident at 10 min, as this was the minimum time required for visible development. As discussed above, the signal was found to be on intensity dependent, which is likely a result of the concomitant obliteration of the at-IR fingerprint as the enhancement proceeded. Importantly, however, positive peaks indicative of the presence of sebaceous components were still seen in all but the darkest marks.