"Handwriting analysis" is a term that is often misunderstood. Perhaps that is because there are two different kinds of handwriting analysts, who each study handwriting by entirely different methodologies and for different purposes. The first group of handwriting analysts call themselves "questioned document examiners" or "forensic document examiners" who engage in the comparison of handwritings for the purpose of determining whether a questioned writing of unknown origin was authored by a person whose known writings are available as "examplars."¹

The other form of "handwriting analysis" has little to do with "identification" and the determination of common authorship, but instead deals with the study of handwriting to discover the character traits of the writer. Generically, handwriting analysts who fall into this category are more accurately described as "graphologists."

Graphology has been defined as the study of handwriting to reveal the character or personality traits of the writer. The principle behind graphology is that people who share certain character and personality traits also exhibit similar shapes and forms in their handwriting. There are many individuals who, in evaluating the legitimacy of graphology, place it on the same level as astrology--which, in view of the popularity of astrology and the fact that millions of individuals not only believe in it but also undertake significant moves in their lives only after consulting their astrological charts, is not a bad place to be. There are, indeed, a great number of individuals who fervently believe in the worth of graphology as a reliable method to learn valuable information about the personality of an individual through his or her writing.

The study of handwriting for a revelation of the character traits of the writer is by no means a modern invention. Roman Emperor Nero is said to have judged the abilities of his associates by a study of their handwriting. Italian scholar Camillo Baldi is said to have authored the first treatise on graphology in 1625, under the loosely translated title of "How to know the nature and qualities of a person by looking at a letter he has written." Abbe Michon, a French monk, wrote about the relationship between handwriting and personality in a book wherein he referred to the study as "graphologie."

The largest group of practitioners of graphology in the United States and Canada were trained by an organization known as the International Graphoanalysis Society (IGAS). The group trains annually thousands of persons who seek to learn the principles of graphology, and become "graphoanalysts"² through home study. Graphoanalysis is defined by IGAS as "a scientific system of identifying and assessing the character and personality of an individual through a detailed study of handwriting. It cannot distinguish sex, race, religious affiliation, or sexual preference. This allows the Graphoanalyst to provide a detailed and unbiased assessment."

According to IGAS literature, its training originates in the studies of Milton Newman Bunker, who in 1910 noted in his own writing and in the writings of others certain “stroke” differences which he associated with personality traits. Bunker had long believed that handwriting was directed by brain impulses that reflected the individual’s personality. Not satisfied by the writings on graphology he had discovered, he and several associates began researching specific stroke formations and investigate their possible relationship to personality traits. After accumulating and studying thousands of specimens, Bunker laid down a standardized procedure which could be taught to others for the purpose of examining character traits reflected in handwriting, and which would not rely on "intuition" or on the personal beliefs of the examiner.

The Bunker theories and techniques were used and perfected by the founders of Graphoanalysis to devise what they represent to be

a scientific system of identifying and assessing the character and personality of an individual through a detailed study of handwriting. The techniques used are based on a well-defined, standardized method of (1) identifying strokes; (2) relating these strokes to specific personality traits; and (3) evaluating the relative strength of the interrelated traits.

After enrolling in its basic 18-month course on Graphoanalysis, IGAS offers its students the opportunity to become a certified Graphoanalyst.

It is often said by practitioners of the discipline that graphology is taught in European colleges and universities as an adjunct to psychological testing methods. No such curricular acceptance has been noted in American psychological education, which leaves IGAS as the sole provider of graphological instruction in this country.

IGAS literature and its published Code of Ethics clearly states that the Graphoanalysis training it provides "does not qualify [the student and graduate] as a document examiner without additional training in that special field." Further, the IGAS reminds its students and graduates that they can use the trademarks of Graphoanalysis and Graphoanalust only for as long as they are members in good standing of the International Graphoanalysis Society, Inc.  It also places a number of other ethical requirements upon its members in the practice of Graphoanalysis.

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¹ For a description of the questioned document examiner’s field of expertise, see, Andre Moenssens, James E. Starrs, Carol E. Henderson, & Fred E. Inbau, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES, 4th edition, Foundation Press, 1995, chapter 5 on "Questioned Documents" at pp. 255-306. See also, Andre A. Moenssens, Handwriting Identification in the Post-Daubert World, 66 U.M.K.C.Law Review 251 (1997).

² The terms "Graphoanalysis" and "Graphoanalyst" are registered service mark of The International Graphoanalysis Society of Chicago, Illinois. The school maintains an informative web site that can be accessed at: http://www.igas.com .