Behavioral Sciences & the Law最新文献

The history of gender-affirming care (GAC) dates back millennia. Ancient records acknowledged gender variance and early attempts at medical/surgical treatment. The twentieth century saw significant advancements in GAC, particularly in the success of gender-affirming surgeries. The emergence of centers like the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic in the 1970s marked a turning point in GAC's recognition and acceptance. However, their sudden closure after just a few years hampered progress in GAC for the next several decades. In 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services overturned its prohibition on Medicare coverage for gender-affirming surgery, leading to greater access. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines have played a significant role in shaping contemporary GAC. The Standards of Care 8 (2022) emphasises patient-centered care and guideline flexibility. While challenges have marked the historical trajectory of GAC, it has also witnessed significant evolution which we review in this article.

Identification of the dead is of utmost importance in mass disasters, war crimes, and forensic examinations. The biological profile, established by a forensic anthropologist is one the necessary steps involved in the identification of the dead. Several parameters can be estimated such as sex, age, stature, biogeographical affinity, and DNA profile of the unknown person. It is crucial to estimate these parameters of identification which may narrow down the investigation process. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the modern world is showing magical uses in different fields. This communication aims to highlight the uses of AI tools for predicting parameters such as sex, age, stature, biogeographical affinity, and DNA profile of unknown persons with more accuracy and in less time. A literature search was conducted using databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect for analyzing the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning algorithms for establishing the biological profile in disaster victim identification (DVI) and forensic casework. Moreover, this research foresees a paradigm shift in investigative techniques as technology advances, highlighting the convergence of AI and anthropological ideas for an improved understanding of the biological profiles of unknown deceased individuals.

Transgender experiences have been attested since the dawn of civilization. Long before gender was reinterpreted as socially constructed and non-binary by 20th-century Western scholarship, concepts such as not belonging to the gender assigned at birth, transitioning, and being “neither a man nor a woman” integrated the belief systems and practices of various societies worldwide. This review examines anthropological and historical records of trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming behavior spanning six continents and five millennia. Moreover, we investigate how trans experiences interact with local traditions, family structures, laws, religions, and other social institutions. Finally, we explore trans-inclusive historiographical trends and discuss the relevance of transgender history awareness for professional and academic endeavors beyond the social sciences.

Existing within hierarchical kinship networks, requiring patronage of gurus, hijras, a ‘third’ gender community, undergo mandatory apprenticeship to a commune life through a discipleship-lineage system where castration is seen as a necessary truth and final rite of passage to achieve a virtuous hijra identity. This article examines the subjectivities of hijras from working-class backgrounds and narrows its focus to analyse how individual hijras develop an understanding of themselves from their occupied subject positions in the larger hijra community shaped by internal hijra cultural traditions (parampara) manifested through rituals of harm. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork of 10 years in New Delhi and its neighbouring states, this article discusses the genealogies of wound cultures through castration in the hijra community acquired through their experiential and vernacular knowledge systems of self-flagellation as a practice of ethical self-making for their sacred rebirth in a nirvana (a state of freedom from all suffering) body.

Gender affirming surgeries are procedures that are used by transgender and gender diverse individuals to align their bodies to their gender identities. These have been shown to improve the mental health and wellbeing of those individuals who choose to access them. Rates of regret associated with gender affirming surgeries are low, and in addition to improving mental health and quality of life, these procedures have the potential to make it safer for transgender and gender diverse people to move through the world. This article provides a narrative review that places gender affirming surgeries in the current sociopolitical context of the United States. It describes common types of gender affirming surgery, protocols for surgical assessment, and the risks and benefits of surgery.

As the nature of transgender condition becomes better understood and the legal rights of transgender individuals are defined through court decisions and legislation, intersexuality ought not be overlooked. Potential commonalities as well as differences between intersexual and transgender individuals, clinically and psychosexually, may be mutually informing and relevant to their legal rights in ways that could implicate mental health services. In this review, the concepts of intersexuality and Disorders of Sexual Development are defined followed by a brief synopsis of the evolution of ancient conception of hermaphroditism into the vastly heterogenous biological conditions of today referred to as DSDs. A growing corpus of scholarly literature today argues that intersex persons should be regarded as having diverse sexual characteristics and as not disordered. Nonetheless, various conditions require understanding if the intersex person is to make informed decisions and if health providers are to recognize those conditions that constitute medical emergencies. This review and analysis compares intersex with transgender persons and provides current clinical and scientific knowledge as essential background for Part II, our following article on the advancement of legal rights of intersex persons.