Criminal Investigations: Forensic Graphology

Writing is an automatic process, the result of motor responses linked to neural circuits, and behavioral responses can only be unique, just as emotional experiences are exclusive to individuals. Graphology is the science that, through handwriting analysis, is able to outline the personality profile of the writer. The graphic sign is the direct record of experiences which, interacting with constitutional traits, contribute to the formation of the individual’s unique character.

In the act of writing, the whole personal subjectivity is involved in its uniqueness and in its complex cerebral and neuromuscular activity. From the ideation function to the movements of the hand and fingers, the entire individual moves on the page while writing and reproduces in it their particular way of being.

Graphological analysis is carried out by measuring the percentage of various signs, evaluating the symbolism of each sign in relation to space, and many other integrated data that inform about the characteristics of each individual. The white space of the page on which one writes symbolically represents the equivalent of the vital space in which we find ourselves, and the way we occupy that space while writing reveals how we move within it.

Starting from the graphic forms made on paper, the result of an activity originating in the brain and organized according to its structure and experience, it is possible, through a rigorous and objective investigation method, to trace back from the handwriting to the underlying graphic gesture, thus understanding the unique and unrepeatable dynamics that characterize the person. Through the study of handwriting, it is also possible to better understand the potentials and resources each individual possesses.

There are various application fields in which graphological consultancy, alone or together with other diagnostic tools, has proven to be particularly useful and effective. Among the fields of application, forensic-expert graphology is worth mentioning.

Graphological expertise is requested by private individuals, lawyers, in civil cases to establish the authorship, authenticity, or forgery of signatures, private writings, initials, anonymous letters, and in criminal cases when handwriting is used to commit a crime and it is necessary to identify the author of a document.

In graphological expertise, one or more disputed writings are compared with the autograph writings of the subject or subjects suspected to be the authors. To this end, the forensic graphologist may use various tools. For a long time, reliance was placed solely on macrophotography performed with grazing light and reflectographs. More recently, the use of high-definition scanners and dedicated image processing software has refined the technique. Alongside these tools, infrared photography should also be mentioned, which is very useful in examining documents that would be unreadable to the naked eye or documents suspected of being forged.