News
The purpose of an autopsy in the 21st century
AAPT Webinar on 17th February 2022 with Dr Imogen Jones, Associate Professor in Law, University of Leeds
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Topic
It is all too easy to reduce the purpose of an autopsy to medical and/or legal questions. This approach may acknowledge the social context in which autopsies takes place but considers it to be secondary to the seemingly objective institutions of law/medicine. Here I explore whether this approach imagines a false dichotomy; instead examining what can be learnt if social and political context and outcomes are given primacy when considering the ‘purpose’ of an autopsy.
Bio
Imogen Jones is an Associate Professor in Law, based at the School of Law, University of Leeds. Imogen’s research lies at the intersection of law, medicine and death studies. Her most recent project considers the values, attitudes and practices which inform the autopsy stage of unexpected death investigation. You can find more out about emerging themes from that research, as well as Imogen’s other/previous work around law and death here