@article{ref1,
title="Potential significance of swastika tattoos in a medico-legal setting",
journal="Medicine, science, and the law",
year="2020",
author="Byard, Roger W.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Although the increasing popularity of tattoos has challenged the previous associations with criminality and psychiatric illness, particular subsets of tattooed individuals may still have an association with unnatural deaths in a forensic context. A retrospective review of the autopsy database at Forensic Science South Australia was undertaken over a 23-year period from 1997 to 2019 for cases with swastika tattoos. Twenty-six cases (23 males and 3 females) were identified, ranging in age from 19 to 67 years (Mage = 36 years). The cases comprised seven (27%) suicides, seven (27%) accidents (including five vehicle crashes), five (19%) drug-related deaths (toxicity/overdose), four (15.4%) natural deaths and three (11.5%) homicides. There were significantly more unnatural deaths in the group with swastika tattoos compared to tattooed controls (p < 0.01). Multiple swastikas, expletives and white supremacist sentiments were also present in a number of cases. However, in one Asian male, the presence of a sacred Buddhist tattoo suggested that the swastika tattoo instead had religious rather than antisocial/racist significance. This study shows that in the population of individuals undergoing forensic autopsies, subgroups may be identified by their tattoos who have a predisposition to violent and unnatural death. Evaluation of this risk has to be tempered by considering the cultural/religious background of a decedent, as the symbol may have completely different connotations for certain religious groups such as Jains, Hindus and Buddhists.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0025-8024",
doi="10.1177/0025802420973538",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802420973538"
}