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Graphopsychology GRAPHOPSYCHOLOGY ABSTRACT Today’s crime scenario and sophisticated crime type has put the investigators into most difficult situations of crime solving. Nowadays criminals are not only trained for executing crimes but are also trained mentally and physically to withstand any type of physical or mental torture if caught. The use of third degree on these sophisticated criminals has failed which was on first hand was unlawful and on the other hand was not an appropriate method of interrogation. The major challenge which the investigators face is of multiple suspects in a single crime. And exposure of all the suspects to multiple methods of interrogation is again a cumbersome process and definitely not a fool proof methods. New techniques have been developed by scientists and researchers in terms of exposing the suspects to tests wherein their mental level, status and their motives can be known. In this due course various psychological tools has been developed which are now have become a major forensic tool for investigation which comes under the purview of forensic psychology. Being subjective in nature reports developed out of forensic psychological tools are only admitted as a corroborative evidence but has been taken up very well as an investigation tool. A new type of science which has a very long history of existence has come up in few years known as graphology. Handwriting is as unique as a fingerprint. Graphology is studying handwriting, and how that handwriting ties in to a person's behavior. While graphology is not regarded as forensic evidence, it is still often used in combination with other techniques to profile criminals to aid authorities in their investigations. Due to various types of critics, ambiguities and reliability in the use of graphology in isolation has been a question in near past. Although various researchers and scientists are working on the fact to prove Graphology as a fool proof method to understand a person’s behaviour, but a percentage of subjectivity will remain. This paper puts forth an idea for the development and use of combination psychology and graphology in order to reduce the level of subjectivity in both the sciences. This innovative combination known as “Graphopsychology” on first hand can be used as an investigative tool. Graphopsychology is in its developmental stages and to be established as a science would be subjected to multiple validation tests. With a combination of neuro scientists, graphologists, psychologists this can come up as an innovative science with multi-fold usage not only in the field of crime but also other areas for a common man. In due course of time Graphopsychology may also be used as one of the corroborative report along with other evidences in the court of law. INTRODUCTION What’s handwriting ? Writing done with a pen or pencil in the hand; script. A style or manner of writing by hand, esp. that which characterizes a particular person; UNIQUENESS IN HANDWRITING AND ITS DEVELOPMENT From childhood to adulthood – three developmental phases Avé-Lallemant’s statistical research (1970) resulted in norms for many handwriting indicators typical of individuals aged between 6 and 20 years. The developmental patterns that were found showed that youth could be divided into three distinct phases (Avé-Lallemant, 1994): Phase I – Childhood (age 6-12) Handwriting gradually overcomes clumsiness and becomes fluent during the “Pre-calligraphic stage” (the first 2-3 grades). In third grade the “Calligraphic stage” is achieved showing a childish, school form handwriting, generally maintaining stability. This reflects the stable period of “higher childhood”, or the “latent-period” of Freud. Disturbances found during this period are the result of health problems or the reflection of psychological problems, caused by external forces. Phase II – Puberty (age 12-14): A very unstable period. Signs of distress occur very frequently and change rapidly. It is a period of an endogenic- crisis, caused by imbalance in hormone-production and enhanced physical growth. Handwriting changes also reflect the fluctuating body-image and self-image. Phase III – Adolescence (age 14-20): The handwriting shows gradual re-stabilization. In this process frequent periods of artificial writing (“Role-writing”) occur, and typical signs of distress may constitute a second peak. This is typical for the identity-crisis, usually occurring around age 16. Only at the end of phase III will a new stability, as known in adult handwritings, be achieved and maintained. Handwriting analysis is a tedious and methodical process that relies on extensive knowledge of the way people form letters, which characteristics of letter formation are unique and the physiological processes behind writing - the ways in which a person's fine-motor skills can affect his or her handwriting and leave clues about the author's identity. The primary basis of handwriting analysis as a science is that every person in the world has a unique way of writing. When we were all kids in primary school, we learned to write based on a particular copybook - a style of writing. Which copybook our handwriting is based on depends on when and where we grew up. So at first, we all probably wrote in a similar way to kids of our own age and location. But with the passing of time, those writing characteristics we learned in school - our style characteristics - became only the underlying method of our handwriting. We developed individual characteristics that are unique to us and distinguish our handwriting from someone else's. Most of us don't write the way we did in first or second grade. And while two or more people may share a couple of individual characteristics, the chance of those people sharing 20 or 30 individual characteristics is so unlikely that many handwriting analysts would say it's impossible. Handwriting is affected by several physiological factors, including handedness and age. Children and older people will demonstrate differences in fine motor skills compared to healthy adults. Children's letters tend to be more clumsy until they master the skill, and older people often develop muscle or joint issues that can make their writing look trembly. STUDY OF HANDWRITING FROM VARIOUS ASPECTS 1. GRAPHONOMICS a. Graphonomics is the interdisciplinary field directed towards the scientific analysis of the handwriting process and the handwritten product. b. Researchers in handwriting recognition, forensic handwriting examination, kinesiology, psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence, paleography and neuroscience cooperate in order to achieve a better understanding of the human skill of handwriting. 2. FORENSIC HANDWRITING ANALYSIS Handwriting Examinations The examination of handwriting to assess potential authorship proceeds from the above principle of identification by applying it to a comparison of samples of handwritten material. Generally, there are three stages in the process of examination. In brief, they are: 1. Analysis: The questioned and the known items are analyzed and broken down to directly perceptible characteristics. 2. Comparison: The characteristics of the questioned item are then compared against the known standard. 3. Evaluation: Similarities and differences in the compared properties are evaluated and this determines which ones are valuable for a conclusion. This depends on the uniqueness and frequency of occurrence in the items. 4. Optionally, the procedure may involve a fourth step consisting of verification/validation or peer review. Certainly the most significant shortcoming of handwriting analysis as a science is the fact that it is ultimately subjective. This means that its acceptance in the scientific community and as evidence in court has historically been shaky. Only recently, as the training of analysts has become more standardized and certification procedures have been put in place, has handwriting analysis started to gain more acceptance as a reproducible, peer-reviewed scientific process. The results of a handwriting comparison are still not always accepted as evidence in a court case, partly because the science has a few more hurdles to clear, including determining a reliable error rate in analysis and setting standards for the comparison process. The addition of computerized handwriting analysis systems to the process, including the FISH (Forensic Information System for Handwriting) system, which allows examiners to scan in handwritten documents and digitize the comparison process, may speed up the process of general acceptance of handwriting analysis as a science and as expert evidence in court. 3. GRAPHOLOGY Etymologically, graphology means the science of the study of graphisms (graphos: writing / logos: science). The various graphological specializations arise as a result of the direction, or discipline, given to said study. In some of these specializations (graphophysiology, medical graphology, forensic handwriting analysis, etc.) the neuter graphological method is used; that is to say, graphic aspects and sub-aspects are analyzed using graphological terminology, without necessarily needing to make any psychological interpretation thereof. Graphology is the study of graphisms, handwritten graphic symbols that represent words and ideas; from the graphological point of view, writing (a neuromuscular and psychic act) is understood to be a convergence of voluntary physical gestures that, via a semiconscious-learning process, become internalized, automatic and personalized due to a series of biological factors
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