A person who studies the science of handwriting is known as a handwriting specialist. A handwriting analyst bases his or her analysis on the belief that each person’s handwriting is as unique as a snowflake or a fingerprint; people learn to write by being taught the same letters using similar methods, but their handwriting evolves over time with individual alterations and flourishes. Because the documents’ status is in doubt, a handwriting specialist can be asked to work on them. Officials may need to verify authorship, or they may need to know the documents’ authenticity in order to ensure they are not forged.
Initial document examinations by a handwriting specialist include determining which characteristics of the handwriting sample are due to which of the various handwriting methods the subject was taught, and which characteristics are unique to the individual whose handwriting is being examined, with the latter being particularly important in questionable documents. This aspect of the job has been used to convict bank robbers and kidnappers, with the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in Hopewell, New Jersey, in 1932 being one of the most famous cases of the twentieth century. The kidnapper sent more than a dozen ransom notes, and authorities were tasked with analyzing the handwriting on the notes to see if it matched the man they suspected of the kidnapping.
A handwriting expert concluded that all of the ransom notes were written by the same person, and that the suspect, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, had written them, but the process used to obtain a sample of Bruno Hauptmann’s handwriting for comparison has since been questioned. For better oversight, the approved method of collecting a handwriting sample in similar situations has been changed since then. In another situation, a handwriting expert could assist in determining whether a celebrity’s autograph is genuine or if someone who purchased the autograph was duped by a forgery.
Forensic document analysts devote a significant amount of time to examining handwriting samples, and they are meticulous and thorough in their work. However, because it is based on subjective analysis, the science is not infallible, and it is not as reliable as a fingerprint or DNA. The Forensic Information System for Handwriting, a computer-driven analysis, aims to make the process of handwriting analysis less subjective. A handwriting specialist’s findings are not always admissible in court.
A graphologist, on the other hand, studies handwriting samples for a different purpose than a forensic handwriting examiner. Graphology examines a person’s handwriting in order to uncover clues about their personality and character traits. Graphologists consider graphology to be more of an art than a science. Some people dismiss graphology as mere nonsense, but it is used by some employers to screen applicants and by law enforcement officials to profile suspects.