Use of the Ventral Arc in Pubic Sex Determination

• NCJ Number: 128913
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 501-511
• Author(s): L D Sutherland; J M Suchey
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): BNS78-13025
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the 39th annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, San Diego, California, February 16-21, 1987, and the 40th annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 15-20, 1988.

Annotation

A sample of 1,284 well-documented pubic bones was studied for sex determination methods. This sample included many adolescents and could be used to expand Phenice's 1969 study, which was largely based on mature adults.

Abstract

In the present study, focus was placed on the ventral arc, which, when used alone, provided 96 percent accuracy in sex determination. This paper stresses the development of the ventral arc in the adolescent: a precursor condition is defined, which first appears at age 14 and becomes the most frequent condition at age 20. In mature adults, four percent show conditions that are misleading and likely to lead to sex determination errors. Practical applications of this method are discussed in relation to the forensic science setting, including three cases. A set of casts was developed to increase the reliability of the method, and these casts were then tested in interobserver error studies. 3 tables, 11 figures, and 5 references (Author abstract)