July 14, 2020

Sociology

Helena Machado e Sílvia Portugal

The research topic of this study represents one of the most recent technological innovations in the field of criminal investigation: forensic DNA phenotyping. These technologies aim to predict the appearance of criminal suspects through the inference of certain physical characteristics, such as eye, skin and hair colour, as well as biogeographic ancestry. By analysing biological samples collected at crime scenes, such as saliva, blood or semen, these technologies aim to help criminal investigation recreating the visual image of the suspect.

The study's objective is to explore the complex web of relations intertwined between the development of forensic DNA phenotyping and the institutional mechanisms of surveillance, control and categorization of suspect populations. On the one hand, it focuses on the controversies and expectations about its development and (potential) application in criminal investigation. On the other hand, it develops an understanding of how the embedded processes of criminalization within the use of such forensic technologies (re)create human identities by increasing and reinforcing stereotypes of suspicion related to certain population groups.

The research methodology applied is a qualitative, comprehensive and interpretive sociological approach based on the principles of grounded theory. It comprises the analysis of semi-structured interviews with institutional representatives operating under the Prüm system from all EU countries, with forensic geneticists and a broad group of stakeholders in Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The innovation of this work relates to the novelty that phenotyping technologies represent for the field of forensic genetics applied to criminal investigations. Given the scarcity of studies on these technologies within the social sciences, this research contributes to expanding the sociological perspective by bringing together a diverse theoretical body, but also a wide range of perspectives on the (potential) application of these tools in criminal investigation.

This thesis presents new analytical contributions with special significance for two research fields: the sociology of expectations and the social studies of police work. The study contributes by taking a careful look at the specifics of forensic DNA phenotyping technologies in comparison to other more robust and traditionally used forensic techniques. While still being in a scientific development phase its limited legal regulation in the EU and limited application in criminal investigation impact on the views shared by the interviewees regarding the (potential) application of forensic DNA phenotyping in criminal investigation. Furthermore, its connection with the premises of objectivity and infallibility hitherto associated with the social imaginaries of forensic technologies are reflected in the interviewee's understandings.

This research reveals despite differences across expectations also the existence of shared expectations, transversal to the views of all professional groups interviewed. These views point to the promising character of the futures of phenotyping technologies in criminal investigation. However, the uncertainty surrounding these technologies translates into a model for building expectations that do not follow a binary rationality. This research thus reveals heterogeneity in the perspectives of the futures of DNA phenotyping and the lack of consensus about the impacts of these technologies in criminal investigation. Therefore, at the same time as it acts mitigating negative views about phenotyping technologies and the existing controversies, the uncertainty of the future leaves open a wide range of possibilities associated with its use: an ecology of possible futures.

The analysis of expectations reveals a projection of futures predominantly centred on a rhetoric of intelligence and on a model of construction of suspicion that focuses on racial differences as a tool for police investigation. By producing probable knowledge about the physical appearance of criminal suspects, phenotyping technologies operate collectivizing suspicion. Consequently, some racial and ethnic minorities turn out to be more exposed to the surveillance actions of police forces.
Finally, if forensic DNA phenotyping calls for an imaginary of scientific and technological progress, the understanding of the differentiating power of its outcomes results in the racialization of the physical characteristics that these technologies seem to make visible to the police investigation. Thus, this study reveals a paradox: the invocation of racial categories translates into an (in)visible perpetuation of scientific and technological practices that operate both in the forensic and criminal fields. Such practices can increase the exposure of certain population groups not only to the actions of surveillance and state control but also to discrimination and stigmatization.

Keywords: Phenotyping inference; suspicion; colectivisation; expectations; controversy