adept at juggling several different projects at once and adjusts easily to changing conditions.
This printer is impatient for results and is therefore not one to stand back waiting for things to develop. He prefers fast action and does not waste time in reaching his goals. I expect that he understands the importance of details but does not like to get bogged down in them due to being eager to move on to the next step.
There are indications that this printer has highly developed tastes and is visually sophisticated.
In dealing with people, this printer can easily be all things to all people if it suits his purpose. Though if someone is slow to catch on and is not essential for his success, then this printer is inclined to be short and dismissive with another person. He does not suffer fools gladly, nor does he like to be told what to do.
I expect that this printer's mother or mother figure was emotionally distant due to neglect, stress, illness, accident, or death. The nurturing he received lacked warmth, so that he was not able to properly bond with his mother or main caretaker. This disturbance in the original mother-child bond has resulted in him currently having considerable difficulty in developing close relationships with other people, even though he may function well in casual social settings. He is always aware of the amount of distance between himself and other people.
This printer knows he has superior intelligence and taste. Consequently, he has a desire to leave his mark. Beneath this exterior of sophistication though, he is not nearly as secure or invulnerable. He takes things more personally than he lets on about. He comes off as cool and objective but is more sensitive than he appears.
Because I had not had an occasion to use graphology as an investigative tool during my career as a homicide detective, I sent the following reply:
April 27, 2000
Dear Hannah:
Thanks for the report on the character analysis, which I received yesterday.
Forgive my ignorance on the subject, as this is the first time I have ever required a character analysis from handwriting. Can you tell me if these analyses are readily accepted in the main?
I guess my question really relates and attempts to address the question for potential subjective analysis through what is written, versus how it is written.
By example, in your analysis, is the 'high intelligence' revealed through his manner of writing or through what is written? Such as the known sample that reads 'portrait of a chap suddenly aware of the words of Sigmund Freud.' I would not expect that sentence to be written by a plumber in Sedro Woolley, although one never really knows!
Guess my real question is: Is the source of this analysis strictly coming from the actual mechanics of the writer as opposed to any extraneous outside knowledge or information that might be gleaned from the wording and text of the sample?
Regards,
Steve Hodel
Hodel Investigations
To which she responded:
To: Steve Hodel
From: Hannah McFarland
Date: May 6, 2000
Dear Steve:
Following is my response to your questions.
You want to know if these analyses (personality assessments) are readily 'accepted' in the main. That is a thorny question. If you talk with academic psychologists, they will tend to be skeptical of handwriting analysis. Even though handwriting analysis was developed in the psychology departments at universities in Europe and the U.S., few psychologists are aware of this. Also, most psychologists know nothing about handwriting analysis, so are thus speaking out of ignorance, when they criticize it.
The general public has an entirely different view of handwriting analysis. Many people are quite receptive to it, and many people are very interested in it. High profile cases (such as the Jon Benet Ramsey case) involving handwriting have been in the news lately, which has brought much more exposure and awareness about handwriting.
Even though personality assessment via handwriting (HW) also known as graphology is a different discipline from questioned document examination (determining authorship) the public does not differentiate between the two. So, even though the Ramsey case is primarily about who wrote the 'ransom' letter, it has also stimulated considerable interest in graphology (personality assessment).
6,000 U.S. businesses are using graphology as part of the hiring process, according to Inc. magazine. In spite of the lack of conventional psychology's blessing, corporate America has found it to be accurate.
One reason why graphology has yet to achieve mainstream acceptance, is that there is not a standard licensing available. Anyone can claim to be an 'expert' graphologist. Thus there are plenty of amateur types promoting themselves as professional. Their work is inferior as a result and does not improve the reputation of graphology.
I hope the above makes sense to you, Steve. It's a complicated topic! Your next question was about the source of the analysis. My report was based on the HW only. Knowing that the printer had committed murder, I could have been inclined to write that he was prone to violence. I did not see a lot of signs of propensity toward violence in the printing, so did not report that. The intelligence is seen in the printing, not the content of what is written.
If you desire, I could also write an explanation of how I arrived at the personality assessment conclusions.
Sincerely,
Hannah McFarland
Ms. McFarland noted an extremely unusual characteristic in the suspect's writing that, to my mind, demonstrates a bridge connecting the psychological orientation of graphology to what I consider the more empirical science of questioned-document analysis.
