What Is A Psychological Autopsy?

A psychological autopsy is a forensic technique aimed at establishing or specifying the causes of suicide. However, in some cases, experts use it to confirm whether a person’s death was actually due to suicide. However, it is a relatively new field that is only being applied systematically in the 21st century.

The term psychological autopsy was first coined in the 1950s, in the works of Shneidman and Farberow. Edwin S. Shneidman (link in Spanish) was an American clinical psychologist who studied suicide and thanatology. He co-founded the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center in 1958 with Norman Farberow and Robert Litman.

In the United States, however, the concept of a psychological autopsy was already mentioned around the 1920s. After the era known as the Great Depression, there was a wave of suicides in that country.

This kind of epidemic caught the attention of many scientists, and they then tried to find common causes. However, it was only with Shneidman and Farberow that they consolidated the concept.

The psychological autopsy

What experts do during a psychological autopsy is to make an indirect and retrospective reconstruction of the deceased person’s life and personality. It is an investigative process that seeks to determine the circumstances and reasons that led to a person committing suicide.

In general, it has two main purposes. The first is forensic in nature. The second is epidemiological in nature. A psychological autopsy is requested as part of a criminal investigation.

It’s an adjunct to the coroner’s autopsy. However, experts almost always apply it in cases where the cause of death is in doubt.

From an epidemiological point of view, this tool is intended to collect relevant information to determine manifestations of behaviour, circumstances and motivations etc. All of this information should then help identify common risk factors, with the goal of preventing or avoiding further suicides.

To a lesser extent, this tool also serves other purposes, such as establishing the legality of acts performed before death, such as signing documents.

Other applications are, for example, to assess whether mistakes have been made in practice among people undergoing medical or psychological treatment, to structure psychological profiles and to draw up criminological categories, among other things.

Research tools

This type of autopsy uses three main tools: the study of the crime scene, the collection of psychological fingerprints and interviews with people close to the victim.

• The study of the crime scene provides important clues about the whole case. The method chosen, the placement of objects around the body and other similar elements can all provide valuable information.
• Collecting psychological fingerprints includes collecting letters, messages, diaries and other documents or information that can help establish a psychological profile of the victim or clarify the circumstances of his or her death.
• The interviews with people close to the victim also serve to collect information about the personality or motivations of the person who committed suicide. This is one of the most controversial procedures of the psychological autopsy. It is very difficult to determine the various possible factors behind the suicide.

The protocols

There are several protocols involved in performing a psychological autopsy. However, one of the most common is the MAPI model, created by Dr. Teresita Garcia Perez. She is a Cuban doctor and her method has proven to be very practical and functional. The word MAPI refers to the four basic aspects that experts will look at. These are the following:

• M – Mentally. In this step, they analyze abilities and cognitive skills, such as judgment, cognition, intelligence, memory and attention.
• A – Affective. Here, for example, the experts will look for signs of possible affective disorders, such as depression.

• P- Psychosocial. This aspect explores the victim’s relationship circles throughout their lives.
• I – Interpersonal. In this final section, researchers establish how the person relates to their immediate environment.

The protocol states that the first thing to do is to examine the place where the body was found. There the experts can search for psychological fingerprints, signs and indications of the circumstances surrounding the suicide.

Researchers then conduct structured interviews with three people who were close to the victim, using 60 different aspects or factors. These interviews take place between one and six months after the death.

Finally, an interdisciplinary analysis is carried out involving the psychologist, the doctor and at least one criminologist. An expert then prepares the report, which is of a probabilistic nature.

In this report, they determine the cause of death based on the NASH code: Natural, Accidental (Accident), Suicide (Suicide), or Homicide (Murder) and list the possible causes of death.