Problems of Forensic Sciences 2016 Vol. 106 (CVI) 444-455
MIRROR WRITING: A TRAIT OF WRITING WITH AN UNACCUSTOMED HAND
ANITA, O. P. JASUJA
Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, India
Streszczenie
A writer may attempt to disguise their handwriting with the idea that in this way they may be able to hide their identity by bringing about changes in the resultant handwriting. One of the methods may be shifting to the other hand – e.g. a person who normally writes with their right hand switches over to their left hand in order to disguise their handwriting. In such a type of disguised handwriting, a very peculiar type of inconsistency – mirror image writing – has been observed, which may help in pinpointing the use of the unaccustomed hand to execute the disguise. In the present work, a detailed study of the mirror image form of writing was conducted. The types of characters which are most frequently written in mirror image form were noted. Gender differences in the tendency to write in the mirror image form were observed. The effect of various factors such as the position of a character (letter) in a word, and whether a writer is copying a text or it is being dictated to them are also described. It was found that “t” is the character most frequently written in mirror image form.
Słowa kluczowe
Handwriting; Disguise; Unaccustomed hand; Mirror image.