Exploring Handwriting Variability When Using The Non-Dominant Hand

Abstract

Questioned document examination is one of the critical fields of forensic sciences. Comparison between the questioned and known documents is primarily practiced in this field of forensic sciences. One of the most standard ways of disguise writings is to perform the writings with unaccustomed hands or parts of the body. Practice of the unaccustomed hand can be done to an extent that unnatural features can be eliminated from the writings, and the writings attain features of both similarities and differences to the writings performed in the usual hand. Knowing which features are similar and which are different significantly improves the detection of disguised writing by the forensic experts. For this study, a sample size of 140 was taken; half of them wrote using their left hand, and the other half used their right hand for writing. Using different writing instruments, subjects wrote text on the same writing surface. Class and individual characteristics pertaining to slant, size and proportion of letters, space alignment, and line quality were done. This study is supposed to help in determining specific features of handwriting that can be used by forensic experts to detect attempts to disguise handwriting.