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Articles  »  Handwriting and Document Analysis

Graphology

     Throughout history, artists, historians, philosophers, and scientists have been interested in the relation between handwriting and writer. Studies into the subject began as early as 1622 when French abbé Hypolite Michon, who gave graphology its name, and Jules Crépieux-Jamin attempted to relate specific handwriting elements to specific human traits. The hypothesis that handwriting is an expressive movement advanced throughout the years, as scientists looked further into how writing can be interpreted.

     For an accurate comparison to take place, examiners need several samples of the subject's natural handwriting. The more samples, the better the comparison. For a sample to be eligible for comparison it must have been written with the same kind of instrument, in a reasonable close period of time, and must match as cursive to cursive and printing to printing. Graphology as a means of showing a person's personality stems from the fact that people almost always write differently from the way they were taught in school. How the writer combines characters from left to right and from top to bottom on the page creates a unique writing pattern. Theoretically, the writing represents the different, yet interrelated, aspects of the writer's personality. Handwriting experts take note of all significant characteristics in a sample of writing, including: skills and style, slant of letters, height above and below lines, angularity, connections, distance between words, height of letters, pressure on paper, beginnings and endings, dots and crosses, width of margins, and length of indentations. 
A basic problem of graphology is establishing a common denominator for the slant, size, letterform, and tendencies to the right and left to permit comparable objective evaluation. In 1942, the American psychologist Joseph Zubin and the German graphologist Thea Stein Lewinson attempted to provide a common objective yardstick for the measurable and descriptive elements in handwriting. Using scales based on degrees of rhythm in the muscular movements of the writer, they produced statistical evidence that handwriting analysis can differentiate between abnormal and normal personalities. Their research, however, was not specific in relation to personality traits. Other attempts to determine the validity of detailed handwriting analysis include experiments in which graphologists answer specific questions concerning the writer's feelings, behavior, and attitudes on the basis of examination of handwriting specimens. Clinical investigations of the relationship between handwriting and various mental diseases are in progress toward similar objectives.

     An obvious value of document analysis is in the area of frauds and forgeries. Signature and handwriting forgeries are common and they generally fall into three categories. Freehand forgery is someone signing another person's name in his or her own signature with no attempt to disguise it. Traced forgery is someone writing over an actual signature with pressure and tracing the indented writing on the page beneath and simulated forgery is an attempt to duplicate another person's handwriting. A skilled examiner will be able to spot any of these forgeries, sometimes from clues that are amazingly small and easy to overlook. For this reason, working with the originals is preferred, since much of the detail on a page and in the ink will be lost in a copy.

     Every person has unique handwriting, and everyone's handwriting changes over time. A signature from ten years ago will be different from one today. This fact can be used to fix the date of a document or a forgery. If someone suspects that a document was forged, the date that it was signed may not correspond to the appearance of the signature at that particular time, especially if the forger took the sample from an earlier time.

     Different inks, which appear to be the same when viewed, can look very different under infrared light. If one pen was used to write something, and another was used to obscure the information, they can be separated using this technique, as different inks will be made from different chemicals and have different properties. Another method for differentiating writing implements is to microscopically compare the characteristic marks left in the ink by imperfections in the balls of ballpoint pens.

     When a sheet of paper is written on and another sheet, such as in a pad of paper is underneath, the impressions are carried through and can be revealed. The two methods that are used by forensic document examiners to reveal the hidden message are oblique lighting and ESDA. They are often used as a source of identification in anonymous note cases and in detecting alterations, because a revealed document might have words missing from the original, proving that the original had been altered.

     Until recently the most common method was to light the document from different angles. The indentations in the paper would cast shadows that could be recorded by photography. Normally a combination of multiple exposures and a moving light source would fill in most of the available indentations and reproduce the original writing. While often effective, oblique lighting techniques are unable to recover microscopic indentations, those that occur three or four sheets down. It can also take a long time to process.

     Modern forensic laboratories employ Electro-Static Detection Apparatus to recover indented writing. Using this technique, writing can be revealed from three, or more pages beneath the original. With ESDA, a suspect page is placed upon a porous bronze plate and covered with a cellophane material. A vacuum is applied through the plate to pull the page and the cellophane into firm contact. The document and cellophane are then subjected to a high voltage static charge by waving a wand over the surface. This charge accumulates in the indentations of the document, even those that are microscopic in size. Black toner, similar to that used in photocopiers and laser printers is then cascaded over the cellophane. The highly charged areas retain greater amounts of toner, resulting in a deposit of toner aligned with the indentations on the page. The image of the document can be preserved by photography, or by placing an adhesive backed clear sheet over the cellophane while it is still being held in place. ESDA is extremely sensitive, and non-destructive, as the original document is unharmed by the process.

     Typewriters have often been used to write anonymous notes, threatening letters, or alter contracts. These days, however, computers and printers with changeable fonts have in an increasing number of cases, replaced them, and the prospect of identification has become remote. Typewriters, especially older ones, develop their own unique characteristics over time. Microscopic comparison of suspect documents that have been typed on typewriters can match a document to a specific machine. Some of the characteristics that are taken into account are letter wear, type alignment and spacing, ink density, and pressure. Typewriter and printer ribbons can be rewound to show the image of each letter. This process does not work on older typewriters that use fabric ribbons. A standard document is produced by inserting a clean sheet of paper into a suspect machine and typing the material in question several times. The original documents are usually needed for a detailed comparison, unless there are very obvious differences.

     Sometimes photocopied documents can contain distinct marks that can identify the source of the original document, the model of the machine used or the specific machine that was used. Photocopiers can leave "trash" marks on paper, which are caused by dirt and scratches on the glass, lenses, mirrors, and drum of the machine. Analysis of the type of paper and toner on the photocopied document can also be useful. In some cases, this information can also help to identify the make and model of the copier by searching through reference files. 

     A lab may get a request to determine the authenticity or a historical or reportedly historical document. Due to the difficulty of finding samples to compare with, this task is never easy. Examiners have to gather what samples they can find of the person's handwriting and of the materials they used. The materials used to create the document in some cases provide the only clues. The components in a sheet of paper may prove, when analyzed, to have been unavailable at the time the document was supposedly made, proving it a fake. When a more extensive examination in necessary in order to test a possible forgery, the document in question is put through rigorous tests designed to bring out the truth.     

Prescription for Justice: Forensic Science: Document Analysis

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