Key Points
Learn from the top worldwide experts about the science behind medical determinations of shaken baby syndrome (SBS) / abusive head trauma (AHT).
Provides in-depth, evidence-based analyses of shaken baby syndrome from a multidisciplinary and global team of 32 authors in 26 chapters.
Covers the full range of topics and issues, including reviews of radiological and neuropathological findings in alleged SBS cases, some of their known medical causes, biomechanical and epidemiological aspects, police interrogation techniques and false confessions, cognitive biases among medical experts, evidence standards in courts, and the challenges of overturning wrongful convictions.
Exposes how SBS/AHT cases are handled internationally, in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Japan, Australia, but also China, India, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Spain, and many more countries.
Co-editors
In SBS/AHT, the tension at the interface of law and science is starkly evident: science continually evolves, while law demands swift and definitive answers.
Keith A. Findley
is Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin, and former president of the Innocence Network.
French national diagnosis guidelines about SBS/AHT are inconsistent with the current state of scientific knowledge and should be urgently revised.
Cyrille Rossant
is a neuroscience researcher and software engineer at the Institute of Neurology, University College London.
The SBS/AHT hypothesis has become a controversial topic of debate in Japan. A full review of cases that were convicted in the past is essential.
Kana Sasakura
is a professor of criminal procedure law at Konan University, Kobe.
The medical studies rejecting short falls as acceptable explanations of SBS-like symptoms in babies are statistically flawed, and contradict numerous published witnessed cases.
Leila Schneps
is Professor of Mathematics working at Sorbonne University, Paris.
A better understanding of infant neuropathology is essential for more accurate diagnoses and fairer assessment of cases in courts.
Waney Squier
is a retired paediatric neuropathologist, formerly John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Benign external hydrocephalus is likely to be frequently misdiagnosed as abusive head trauma, thus causing false accusations of child abuse.
Knut Wester
is a neurosurgeon, and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Bergen, Norway.
Authors
Medicine
- Marta Cohen
Paediatric neuropathology - Bernard Echenne
Paediatric neurology - Anders Eriksson
Forensic medicine - Felicity Goodyear-Smith
Public health - Göran Högberg
Psychiatry - Ulf Högberg
Obstetrics - Niels Lynöe
Medical ethics - Julie Mack
Paediatric radiology - Marvin Miller
Paediatrics - Tommie Olofsson
Neuropathology - Joseph Sheller
Paediatric neurology - Waney Squier
Paediatric neurology - Knut Wester
Neurosurgery - Johan Wikström
Neuroradiology
Science
- Chris Brook
Physics - Deborah Davis
Psychology - Norman Fenton
Mathematics - Jeff Kukucka
Psychology - Richard Leo
Psychology - Scott McLachlan
Mathematics - Cyrille Rossant
Neuroscience - Leila Schneps
Mathematics - Kirk Thibault
Biomechanics
Law
- Grégoire Etrillard
Criminal & family law - Keith Findley
Criminal law - Michael Nott
Criminal & family law - Randy Papetti
Law - Kathleen Pakes
Public defender - Kana Sasakura
Law - Barry Scheck
Criminal law - Clive Stafford Smith
Human rights
32
authors
8
countries
16
disciplines
The topic
For the past decades, a growing body of scientific studies in neuropathology, neurology, biomechanics, statistics, and psychology has cast doubt on the forensic reliability of medical determinations of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), also known as Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). Studies have increasingly documented that the same findings are caused not only by non-accidental trauma, but also by accidental short falls and a wide range of medical conditions. Nevertheless, inaccurate diagnoses, unrealistic confidence expression, and wrongful convictions continue to this day.
Bringing together contributions from a multidisciplinary expert panel of 32 world-leading professionals, this landmark book explains the scientific evidence challenging the reliability of determinations of SBS/AHT and advances efforts to evaluate how deaths and serious brain injuries in infants should be analysed and investigated.