Forensic Handwriting Analysis

Military Intelligence & Graphology & CIA

2008-05-28T06:26:00.000-07:00

About the Tolkachev’s story. A case study of Cold War intelligence operations.

The graphology by the CIA's Office of Technical Service (OTS) handwriting experts for analysis:

"(...) Before the first personal meeting with Tolkachev, one of his handwritten notes had been passed to the CIA’s Office of Technical Service (OTS) handwriting experts for analysis. The analysis, done in May 1978, was positive, accurate, and even prophetic. The report made the following observations:
The writer is intelligent, purposeful, and generally self-confident. He is self-disciplined, but not overly rigid. He has well above-average intelligence and has good organizing ability. He is observant and conscientious and pays meticulous attention to details. He is quite self-assured and may plow ahead at times in a way which is not discreet or subtle. All in all, he is a reasonably well-adjusted individual and appears intellectually and psychologically equipped to become a useful, versatile asset. " (...)

Royden, Barry G. (2003): "An Exceptional Espionage Operation.Tolkachev, A Worthy Successor to Penkovsky (U)", Stud. Intel. V47:3-5-33

___________________________________________________________________
Other articles online

- THE GRAPHOLOGY IN THE SECRET SERVICES (only in Spanish)
http://grafologiauniversitaria.com/grafologia_serv.htm

- THE DOCUMENT EXAMINATION IN THE AREA OF INTELLIGENCE (only in Spanish)
http://grafologiauniversitaria.com/documentoscopia_inteligencia.htm

- THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE IN SPAIN (only in Spanish)
http://grafologiauniversitaria.com/inteligencia_militar_esp.htm

More information:
VIÑALS, Francisco - PUENTE, Mariluz (2003): Análisis de Escritos y Documentos en los Servicios Secretos (Translation: The Analysis of Writings and Documents in the Secret Services), Barcelona, Herder editor, 624 pp.

Manuscripts

2008-03-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

- THE ORIGINAL ALICE (The British Library)
Written and illustrated by Lewis Carroll
http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/alice/alice_broadband.htm?top

- SKETCHES BY LEONARDO (The British Library)
See the genius's personal notebook
http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/leonardo/leonardo_broadband.htm?top

- MOZART'S MUSICAL DIARY (The British Library)
With 75 audio excerpts
http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/mozart/mozart_broadband.htm?top

- Isaac Newton (Jewish National and University Library)
http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/newton/index.html

- Turing's manuscript: "A note on normal numbers" http://grafologiauniversitaria.blogspot.com/2007/07/alan-turing.html

- "Pages from the Past" (University of South Carolina.- Thomas Cooper Library)
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/medievalmss/medievalmss.html

- The Albin Schram Collection of Autograph Letters (Christie's)
http://www.christies.com/features/jul07/7411/overview.asp

Researches about handwriting in US Universities

2008-02-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

Written Language Program by Cheryl Wissick Ph.D. *
http://www.ed.sc.edu/caw/ldwrite/sld001.htm

* Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies University of South Carolina

Forensic Psychology

2008-01-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Forensic Psychology resources on the Internet

- The identification of mental disorders in the criminal justice system
by James RP Ogloff,Michael R Davis, George Rivers and Stuart Ross.
AUSTRALIA N INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi2/tandi334.pdf

Forensic Linguistics

2008-01-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

Forensic Linguistics resources on the Internet

- Kemp, A.C * (2007): “Unraveling the Mysteries: Tools for Decoding Slang” in Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, Volume 12, Number 8, August 2007: http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0807/ijse/ijse0807.htm

* Director of the Slang City Web site and Instructor of English Language Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

- Overcoming Language Barriers: Solutions for Law Enforcement
by Susan Shah, Insha Rahman, Anita Khashu
http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/382_735.pdf

"With immigration in the U.S. growing and increasingly dispersed, many law enforcement practitioners are looking for ways to improve contact with people who cannot speak or understand English well. This report is the work of Translating Justice, a technical assistance project involving Vera’s Center on Immigration and Justice and three diverse law enforcement agencies—the Anaheim Police Department in California, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Nevada. Drawing upon the experiences of these three departments, this report offers a range of practical steps and strategies that agencies can adopt, according to their specific needs and available resources."

Criminology resources on the Internet

2008-01-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

- Mental Health Screens for Corrections

U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs - National Institute of Justice

http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/216152.pdf

- THE INTERNET JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY

http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com:80/

-Ex-offenders, Social Ties and the Routes Into Employment By Dr James Rhodes, Research Associate, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
-Ethnic Minority Representation on Juries – A Missed Opportunity By Fernne Brennan, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Essex, UK
-The Geography of Bus Shelter Damage: The Influence of Crime, Neighbourhood Characteristics and Land-Use By Andrew Newton, University of Huddersfield & Kate Bowers, University College London, UK
-A Spatial Analysis of Neighbourhood Crime in Omaha, Nebraska Using Alternative Measures of Crime Rates By Haifeng Zhang, University of Louisville & Michael P. Peterson, University of Nebraska, USA
-Any Number You Want? The Impact of Data Cleaning on Internal Validity By Aidan Wilcox, University of Huddersfeld, UK.
-Culture of Crime Control: Through a Post-Foucauldian Lens By Tim Owen, University of Central Lancashire, UK.
-Alley-Gating Revisited: The Sustainability of Resident’s Satisfaction? By Rachel Armitage & Hannah Smithson, University of Huddersfield, UK.
-Risk, Respectability and Responsibilisation: Unintended driver responses to speed limit enforcement by Helen Wells, Centre for Criminological Research, Institute of Law, Politics and Justice, Keele University, UK.
-Old Age and Victims: A Critical Exegesis and an Agenda for Change by Jason Powell, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Liverpool, and Azrini Wahidin, Centre for Criminal Justice at University of Central England, UK.
-Dynamic Strategies to Legitimise Deviant Behaviour of Street Culture Youth By Dr Steffen Zdun, academic member of staff, University of Bielefeld, Germany.
-Postmodern Policies? The Erratic Interventions of Constitutive Criminology By Mark Cowling, Reader in Criminology, School of Social Sciences and Law, University of Teesside, UK.
-SELF-HELP AS AN EXPLANATION FOR VIOLENCE AMONG FEMALE INMATES: A Preliminary Assesment. By M. Dyan McGuire, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Saint Louis University, USA.
-SURVEILLANCE THROUGH CARE AND CONTROL: The Case of the Mentally Ill in Madison and Britain. By Mike Stephens, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at Loughborough University.
-Behaviour on London Buses and Tubes: Three Cases of Incivility By Simon Mackenzie, Lecturer in Criminology, School of Criminology, Education, Sociology and Social Work, Keele University
-A Deadly Faith in Fakes: Trademark Theft and the Global Trade in Counterfeit Automotive Components By Dr Majid Yar, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SPSSR), University of Kent at Canterbury

-Self-perceptions, Masculinity and Female Offenders by Victoria Herrington, Kings College, London and Claire Nee, University of Portsmouth

-Criminal Arrest Patterns of Client Entering and Exiting Community Substance Abuse Treatment in Lucas County, Ohio, USA by Lois Ventura and Eric Lambert, University of Toledo, USA
-Bulldog Whistling: Criminalization of Young Lebanese-Australian Rugby League Fans by Scott Poynting, School of Humanities, University of Sydney, Australia.
-Blurring Fame & Infamy: A Content Analysis of Cover-Story Trends in People Magazine by Jack Levin, James Alan Fox and James Mazaik, Northeastern University, USA
-Restorative Justice and Three Individual Theories of Crime by Greg Mantle (Anglia Polytechnic University, UK), Darrell Fox (Youth Offending Team Practitioner) and Mandeep K. Dhami (Assistant Professor of Legal Psychology, University of Victoria, Canada.).

-Of Targets and Supertargets: A Routine Activity Theory of High Crime Rates by Ken Pease & Graham Farrell (Loughborough University), Ken Clark (University of Manchester) and Dan Ellingworth (Manchester Metropolitan University).

-'Race', Ethnicity and the Courts by Tahir Abbas, University of Birmingham
-Rebels with a Cause, Folk Devils without a Panic: Press jingoism, policing tactics and anti-capitalist protest in London and Prague by Fiona Donson (Cardiff University), Graeme Chesters (Edge Hill College), Ian Welsh (Cardiff University) and Andrew Tickle (CPRE)
-Where Do We Go From Here? Researching Hate Crime by Barbara Perry, Northern Arizona University.

- Women in the Criminal Justice System
May, 2007 (The Sentencing Project)

“The series documents the gender implications of changes that have occurred over the last 20 years within the criminal justice system, including expansive law enforcement, stiffer drug sentencing laws and re-entry barriers. The briefing sheets delve into family, socioeconomic and physical and mental health issues that women – and their families – face as a result of being incarcerated. Women in the Criminal Justice System contains five sections: Overview; Involvement in Crime; Mothers in Prison; Inadequacies in Prison Services; and Barriers to Reentering the Community. ”
http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/womenincj_total.pdf

- Models for change.- National Center for Juvenile Justice
http://www.modelsforchange.net/
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.855229/

- Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2007/

- Police Lineups: aking Eyewitness Identification More Reliable
by Beth Schuster
"Through-the-Wall Surveillance Examining Prisoners ’ Reentry Needs Training for Sexual Assault Responders Detecting Concealed Weapons Practitioners Performing Frontline Research Forensic Databases"
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/219603a.pdf

- How to Collect and Analyze Data: A Manual for Sheriffs and Jail Administrators:
http://nicic.org/Downloads/PDF/Library/021826.pdf

“Anyone who needs to gather and analyze data concerning various jail-related issues will find this manual useful. This document provides guidance on how information can fuel policy decision making. Chapters comprising this guide are: introduction; good management requires good information; information that should be collected; preparing for the data collection; how to locate and capture information; how to put it all together; how to analyze information; how to interpret information; sharing information with others; and getting the most from your information system. Appendixes include: a glossary of statistical terms for non-statisticians; annotated bibliography; manual data collection procedures and sample forms; inmate profile data collection; incident data code book sample; transport data collection; tables for determining sample size; simple random sampling; calculating the standard deviation; calculating Chi Square; and manual data display.”

- National Training Standards for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiners
U.S.Department of Justice .- Office on Violence Against Women
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ovw/213827.pdf

- US Crime Clock:
http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks4.htm

- Witness Intimidation
U.S. Department of Justice .- Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
by Kelly Dedel

- Future directions in technology enabled crime: 007–09
by Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, Russell G Smith and Rob McCusker
Australian Institute of Criminology 2007

Graduation Ceremonies for Judicial Analyst from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

2007-11-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

Barcelona, October 19, 2007

The last weeks of October saw the meetings of: the 11th CLASS OF FORENSIC HANDWRITING ANALYSIS, the 7th CLASS OF GRADUATES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HANDWRITING, the 1st CLASS OF JUDICIAL ANALYSIS OF PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS, with some of the recent graduates that a few days previously had received their MASTERS IN GRAPHISTICS, GRAPHOPATHOLOGY AND FORENSIC GRAPHOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITAT AUTÒNOMA OF BARCELONA in the preliminary exam session, having validated previous studies. They were also joined those graduates that are currently in the process of obtain their qualification having passed the second year in the postgraduate course, half of which will obtain their MASTERS IN DOCUMENT EXAMINATION AND JUDICIAL ANALYSIS OF PATENTS AND TRADE MARKS

On October 19th the graduation ceremony took place, first in the Assembly Room in UAB’s historic building the “Casa de Convalescència” where the Director, Professor Francisco Viñals, opened the celebration with a welcoming speech and introducing the dignitaries at the President’s table.

As a first master class, Professor Jesús R. Toledano, on behalf of the professors of Forensic Handwriting Analysis and also of the Scientific Division of the Policia Nacional, gave a speech on aspects relating to Criminology, both from the biological perspective, where the study of the temperaments is very important, and from the psychoanalytical and sociological viewpoint. Prof. Santiago Estaún, senior lecturer in Psychology at UAB where he has held positions of great responsibility such as the vice-chancellorship, followed with a speech about the issue of “copying” and “plagiarism”, distinguishing psychological limits from merely legal limits. He also revealed some entertaining samples of fraud experiments in psychophysical perception, something of great interest for new judicial analysts specialising in Patents and Trademarks.

Professor Ferran Salvador, as a tutor specialising in Patents and Trademarks and head of the CME Criminological Central Area, made a small intervention in praise of UAB’s Directors and organisers for being in the twelfth year of their programme, courses that have continued to surpass themselves with their growth and development and by the inclusion of new projects that are being integrated into the science of Graphism, such as taking charge of the teaching team at the Scientific Division of the Catalan Autonomous Police force – the Mossos d'Esquadra.

The Directors of Studies, Francisco Viñals and Mariluz Puente, wanted to emphasise their personal gratitude, and that of the teaching staff, to the recently graduated students, recalling the praiseworthy virtues they embodied, and making special mention of those who travelled long distances and especially those who had made the great sacrifice to leave their homes to come and study at UAB, amongst them distinguished jurists and psychologists from the EU, especially the group from Greece and those from the other side of the Atlantic, from Chile, Mexico and Bolivia. The awarding of degrees followed.

Afterwards, the celebration continued with a drinks reception in the dining room of Casa de Convalescència where the new graduates and Masters could celebrate their own graduation and raise a toast on behalf of their colleagues who for one reason or another were unable to attend.

Downloadable PDF version: http://www.grafologiauniversitaria.com/graduation_07.pdf

Temperaments, more topical than ever

2007-11-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

CONFERENCE:
TEMPERAMENTS, MORE TOPICAL THAN EVER

By Francisco VIÑALS CARRERA
Director of Studies in Psychological Analysis of Handwriting, Graphopsychology and Graphopathology, UAB
Director of the Master's Programme in Graphistics, Graphopathology and Forensic Handwriting Analysis, UAB

Barcelona, September 28, 2007.-

Temperaments are used more than ever in psychiatry, criminology, child psychology and human resources, especially those derived from the four Hippocratic humours that have been properly updated for our times (see the article “Khôra, Spatial Symbolism in Plato –a revalidation of temperaments and character typologies in handwriting”). To give one very up-to-the-minute example: the French CNRS (Centre Nacional de la Recherche Scientifique) has a permanent group of researchers dedicated to psychology of the temperaments.

Augusto Vels himself applied Periot’s adaptations (previously adapted by Sigaud), which were further improved by Computerised Handwriting Analysis, arriving at his final version in the year 2000, the year he unfortunately passed away. Since then, current behavioural thinkers have continued to be in agreement on the undoubted importance of the temperaments and their influence on the personality.

The temperaments, especially those based on the four elements, (also related to blood types; Vector L: O, S: A, B: B and N: AB), constitute clear, genetically influenced and biologically based predispositions, for which reason, despite their interaction with the character, they remain more stable and difficult to modify than the peculiarities of the latter. Logically, they tell us only of psychophysical potential (emotionality, reactivity, extro-/introversion, roots of the channelling of psychosomatic energy) but they are very important for the study and configuration of the global personality. It is precisely due to the temperament that we can explain important facets of psychobiological influence on the personality, manifested in handwriting in the speed, impetuosity or force of the gestural expression, often with a clear differentiation with respect to character.

Recently Cloninger and Sven confirmed this importance with the success of their research into the use of their questionnaires. The Temperament and Character Inventory TCI-R (TCI-140) is also related with Psychopathological Personality Scales (MMPI-2 PSY-5). The short, Spanish version of the TCI-R is now also a useful inventory for the evaluation of the principal dimensions of temperament and character.

The essential correlation is established in the following way: New Elements Search (NS from the N Vector) was associated with low Constriction, HA (from the L Vector) with low Positive Emotionality and Aggressiveness and with high Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism and Reward Dependence (RD from the S Vector) with high Positive Emotionality. Persistence (PS from the B Vector) was related to high Aggressiveness and Positive Emotionality.

Despite having created characterological Transactional Handwriting Analysis’ of the nine exteriorisations of the ego, that are endorsed in many points by the Enneagram (in the correlation of the psychological characteristics of the nine types, not in the pantheism suggested by the said philosophical doctrine) and that TA is a psychoanalytic system of individual and social psychiatry that includes the gestural and integrates humanism and behaviourism in a suitable way, signifying a substantial advance in current Handwriting Analysis, it is necessary to make it very clear that at no point do we abandon the temperaments. In fact, there would be no TA without the temperaments. In the structural analysis of the three systems, the temperaments are located in the “Child system” and are the biological motor which we bring with us at birth as our inheritance and genetic configuration. They are used together with emotional recordings form the whole framework of the said archaeopsyche or “Child system”, where each temperament influences the reception of the information recorded in the “Parent system” in order to respond in one way or another, which follow the potential of the neopsyche or "Adult system" and in accordance with the system that holds the executive power in the cathexis, will facilitate one or another of the Ego’s externalisations in the form of the nine states we typically express or as characteristics derived from the TA.

TA aside, in our work: Psychodiagnostic Assessment via Handwriting, which is a teaching manual where we try to understand the concepts above all else, putting forward a teaching comparison between the temperaments and motor vehicles: Phlegmatic or Sigaud’s digestive temperament is a van (slow and deliberate but adapted for weight and perseverance), the Sanguine or Sigaud’s respiratory as a sport’s car or competitive prototype (shiny and expansive), the Choleric or Sigaud’s muscular as a standard effective and efficient model (consistent and self-regulating) and the Melancholic or Sigaud’s cerebral temperament as a motorcycle (variation, acceleration, independence). In Kretschmer’s and Sheldon's personality types, the predominant “actives” of the sanguine and bile temperament are grouped together in the “mesomorph”, leaving the remainder (L: pyknic-endomorph, N: Leptosomatic-ectomorph). The previous study of temperament supposes at the same time a preparation of the ground for understanding character study next. Character will indicate the form of behaviour, and finally, the personality will identify the specific individual by his uniqueness, originality and difference from others.

Beyond strictly educational examples, it is also necessary to mention the current practical utility of the temperaments because of their essential contribution in relation to the difference between individuals with respect to their reactivity (a crucial element brought by the temperaments), a peculiarity that is linked to the strength or capacity for exciting the nervous system and that remains quantitatively and qualitatively reflected in responses or reactions to stimulation.

We have been able to prove that temperament has a determining influence on personal and social development, and that current research confirms earlier observations, categorically demonstrating that temperament in the business and social context is the order of the day in any scientific protocol, in the application of the most advanced techniques in Human Resources.

Similarly, aside from medical and psychological interest, the study of temperament is becoming a predictor of behavioural problems, especially externalised symptoms, which have proved to be very effective in criminology and of great interest for profiling. In fact, determining a difficult temperament (low rhythmicity, difficult behavioural regulation and negative affectivity) from 3 years of age is a early tell-tale sign of risk behaviour in the pre-adolescent, adolescent and adult stage, such as drug addiction, aggressiveness and criminal activity, since temperamentally they are predisposed to greater physiological and psychic irritability and a negative affectivity that is boosted according to specific, environmental variables (presence of stress and inappropriate parental restrictions on behaviour). Other studies that relate bio-typological constitution (body group) to delinquency have been carried out based on the Kretschmer, Heymans-Wiersma-Le Senne, and Sheldon personality types, heavily applied in criminological research.

Of special significance are the studies that relate temperament and linguistics, confirming that the process of language acquisition, including vocabulary, grammatical structure, etc…, (in other words linguistic style), is found to be mediated through the characteristics of temperament in its inter-relation with social environment. More specifically, on handwriting, the latest research has confirmed a significant relationship between emotional reactivity and handwriting performance.

Thus, it is a great pleasure to be able to state that the new theories include and reaffirm the temperaments, especially those derived from Plato’s elements and the Hippocratic humours; they take them into account and constantly revalidate them. Proof of this (apart from the distinguished work being done by American doctors and psychologists) is that in Spain alone, we can say that of the 34 doctoral theses in Psychiatry and Psychology concerning the temperaments that have been written in recent decades (not including those concerning the temperaments in art and literature which also amount to a good number). There has been a progressive increase, reaching 44.11% between the years 2000-2006, and 6 of which have been presented in Barcelona.

Within our Graphology study programmes at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Institut de Ciències del Grafisme (Institute of Graphological Studies) and the AGC of Spain, we are very happy to include the temperaments in our training and further training of handwriting analysts. Experience has taught us that graduates in the Psychological Analysis of Handwriting from UAB are completely prepared and their training is the most suitable, since in a world where we cannot stop, it is dangerous to limit oneself to a single method or school. The great advantage of Vels’ Graphoanalysis and Transactional Graphoanalysis is that they are integrated into the other schools. In university, the future grapho-analyst will be trained first in the basic concepts and French contributions, then the Italian and German schools, but as happens with the tests, which always have to be adapted to the place where they are being set, in our case we will always bear in mind the Spanish school and carry out the appropriate adaptations of other schools to our own idiosyncrasies and in a fully practical way. This is the secret of our success and that is why companies and organisations have confidence in our graduates.

Bibliography

Viñals, F., Puente, Mª L. (2007): “Khôra, el simbolismo espacial de Platón –revalidación de los Temperamentos y tipologías caracterológicas en la escritura manuscrita” (actualización)

http://grafologiauniversitaria.com/Khora.htm

Viñals, F., Puente, Mª L. (1999): Psicodiagnóstico por la escritura, Grafoanálisis transaccional, Herder, Barcelona. 1ª Reimpresión 2006.

Viñals, F., Puente, Mª L. (2003): Análisis de escritos y documentos en los servicios secretos, Herder, Barcelona.

Mondolfo's International Chair 2007

2007-09-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

MONDOLFO's INTERNATIONAL CHAIR 2007

15 September, 2007

Urbino University - Graphological Institute Moretti (Italy/Europe)

With the intervention of Mr Manuel J. Moreno from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain/Europe)

Mr. Manuel J. Moreno from Autonomous University of Barcelona in Mondolfo's International Chair 2007

KHORA: SPATIAL SYMBOLISM IN PLATO

2007-09-08T02:18:00.001-07:00

KHŌRA: SPATIAL SYMBOLISM IN PLATO
(a revalidation of temperaments and character typologies in handwriting)

Francisco Viñals Carrera and María Luz Puente Balsells
Directors of the Master’s Programme in Graphistics, Graphopathology and Forensic Graphology at
the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

Khōra helps us to understand psychophysical elements as expressed within spatial symbolism. When elaborating a personality profile, such elements are key in formulating graphonomic assessments of handwriting in order to provide insight into psychosomatic, volitional and moral characteristics.

Max Pulver’s work with spatial symbolism contributed greatly to psychoanalysis (especially to Jungian analysis) and opened up new worlds to graphologists. However long before that, Plato had described his spatial scheme in Timaeus, agreeing on many points with Pythagoras.

For Plato, space (khōra) is to be found at the meeting point between the chronological history of our world and our personal histories. It exists where the generation of the world and our own small time periods come together. Therefore, our own space converges with these two aspects and with others. The medium is the setting of time. Space is configured through the momentary and changeable crystallisation of historical events. Seen from this perspective, the medium’s relation to space is that of a fixing of generation.

Khōra’s structure is that of a cross, which could be defined in the language of the Italian school of graphology as the vertical axis (the path of will) and the horizontal axis (the path of intelligence). Khōra is the intersection of willpower and intellect; it is movement within space and time themselves, which characterise the very essence of personality (temperament, character and intelligence).

Looking at the vertical axis, we see what Plato set out concerning “being” versus “becoming”. In Spanish culture—which has in fact been greatly influenced by Plato—the difference between these two (being and becoming) is patent. The clearest examples is that there are in fact two different ways of translating the verb "to be" into Spanish, namely ser and estar. There are many other languages which do not have two different verbs to express this difference of nuance, causing repercussions on their cultures and in the way they formulate certain questions. This could also affect studies of handwriting: the importance of vertical symbolism, vertical strokes, which is the greatest exponent of the coordinate of space. In psychophysics, it is the personal concept of one's own dignity as well as of power, control, and self-affirmation. In TA (Transactional Analysis) this corresponds to the position of the “Parent”, to the confidence implicit in an attitude towards life that says: “I’m OK; you’re not OK”. Being becomes directly involved in the world of ideas; that is why it is related to abstract space: people “feel” like they have a specific status, which may be imaginary or not. If, on the other hand, when someone “happens to be” (estar) in a specific situation, then here it is the determining factors that define the subject. That is why one speaks of concrete space – one lives the experience, one finds oneself in a certain condition for pragmatic reasons, is materialised, there is nothing but bare physical reality, completely lacking in imaginary or idealised attributes. This distinction made in Spanish culture is helpful in developing the concepts of abstraction and idealisation (the upper area) vis-à-vis that which is concrete and comes closest to the body and to one’s instincts (the lower area).

In psychophysics, the horizontal axis is related to the coordinate of time, and in TA, to intelligence (specifically, to the way the “Adult” as well as the “Little Professor” move). We can see that Plato already distributed the horizontal axis to the right as logos (eikôs logos) and to the left as myth (eikôs muthos). It must be kept in mind that in Spanish culture, we tend more towards logos than towards myth. Our tendency is to believe that logos is the correct way of thinking and we therefore inhibit or disallow myth. This also explains why we consider primitive cultures to be inferior. We believe that our exceptional rationality and our never-ending search for logic and deduction make us better than them. However here we must not fool ourselves: despite our overuse of the deductive method (especially with cold empiricism), we still seek refuge in myth (metaphysics itself is a mix between the abstract and the supernatural). We have a tendency in our culture to confuse knowledge with taxonomy (classification): we pigeonhole every little thing and often overuse systematisation, thus undervaluing appearances. In short, logos is to be identified with Jungian conscious thinking, or with the mental processes of the “Adult” from TA; myth, on the other hand, is related to the Jungian unconscious processes of intuition and perception, or with the “Little Professor” from TA (i.e., knowing without knowing why).

We write from left to right: this is not the case in other cultures. We are continually in search of reason –we value it, believing it to be the foundation for any properly made decision. If thinking is not based on certain criteria or guidelines, it is not considered valid. And yet, we are surprised by the skills that certain (native) peoples have: we observe a philosophy of life that is in complete contradiction with our own apparent lack of common sense and with this imaginary world of perfection in which we live, an idealised world of materialism that clashes with the ties that humanity actually has with the rest of creation, with the force of spirituality, with the source and origin of life.

Khōra is the centre itself: it is the totality of those processes that take place within it. It therefore corresponds to the area of the ego and of emotions coming from the feeling of one's own space.

(Explanatory and comparative charts on the symbolism of space can be found in the book Psicodiagnóstico por la Escritura: Grafoanálisis Transaccional, by Francisco Viñals and María Luz Puente, published by Herder Editorial, Barcelona, 1999)

It is not easy to define khōra, but it means something like “space in general”, which need not be space occupied by anything specific. According to Ross (1986), Plato considered spatiality, or extension, to be both inseparable from sense objects as well as necessary for being. As opposed to other scholars such as Crombie or Gómez Robledo, who did not completely understand Plato, Ross (an excellent author) points out how spatiality must be clearly distinguished from Aristotelian interpretations of matter (or, the place that contains something). Naturally, when considering this idea of space, the Aristotelian viewpoint is much more limited than Plato’s, which has caused a lot of confusion throughout history.

In their attempts to get at an understanding of the symbolism of space as seen in Timaeus, authors such as Derrida (1993) have examined the dialogues of Plato and the premises and postulates found therein (many of which are either hotly debated or falsely assumed to be understood), such as the way of understanding muthos and logos, or being versus becoming. This understanding comes through the constant reference to bipolar opposites, through inverted and symmetrical insinuation linked simultaneously to other descriptions.

A large part of the symbolic framework is also related to the description of the creation of the universe, the world, and the soul (the soul having its X-shaped circles, one of which revolves around the same, while the other revolves around the diverse). There are key sentences such as “… the nurse of happening, moistened by water and inflamed by fire, and receiving the forms of earth and air,…”, that speak not only of the movement of the circle, but also of the areas where each of the elements are usually found. These elements are fire, air, water and earth (sanguine, melancholic, phlegmatic and choleric), and we propose a psychological correlation for each of them when analysing handwriting: expansion, variation, plasticity and resistance.

Allport (1963) echoes Wundt in declaring the study of expressive behaviour to be one of the most promising methods for studying individual personality. It involves the analysis of temperament as an element within the involuntary nature of expression, comparing and contrasting it with conscious, adaptive behaviour.

The correlation that exists between handwritten expression, on the one hand, and temperament and character, on the other, has been thoroughly corroborated by numerous tests and questionnaires, among which is the PMK, or Myokinetic Test, developed by the eminent graphologist Dr Emilio Mira y López (1951). Study of the PMK is mandatory in many university programmes, most notably in the postgraduate degree in Psychological Analysis of Handwriting at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, taught by Professors Viñals and Puente (2006).

The interplay of groups of agonist and antagonist muscles is a determining factor in written expression (for example, in vital force, in experiential reactions and in aggressiveness); but what is more, it is also the link to khōra, Plato's spatial symbolism, via the identification of the element “Fire” with the graphic trait of forward expansion (height and impetus), as opposed to the element “Water” which yields, stays low, adapts itself with pliability to the recipient, and falls when there is no support. Similarly, there is the element “Earth” with tension-resistance, applied when flexing muscles, seen in downward movements that add a vertical quality to horizontally moving strokes. Their persistence contrasts with the changing lightness (or one could say disconnection or inequality) of the “Air” element or gestures affected by the antagonistic muscles that support or lighten the top-down load of tension-pressure. This constant feature is changed by the force which raises the stroke towards itself rather than towards the rest when it should be bringing pressure to bear in its descent.

Naturally, these concepts are being continually reinterpreted based on new ways of analysing personality, and yet they retain their validity in modern psychiatry and psychology due to the unarguable importance of temperament (that is to say, genetic or inherited structures –see Millon, 1998). The TCI-R expresses this in terms of the dimensions HA, RD, PS and NS (Cloninger, Sven) and their differentiation, or points of interrelation, with character (the results of the coming together of temperament and external influences and exercising one's will to self-guidance, cooperation and self-transcendence).

Temperamental and character typologies therefore offer us an incredible wealth of information for assessing and complementing the study of handwriting; this is something that has been proven quite clearly by scientists working in the field of graphology, such as Dr Emilio Mira y López and, later, Dr. Jean Charles Gille (1991), whose works are required reading in the Master's Programme in Graphistics, Graphopathology and Forensic Graphology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

No graphologist worth their salt nowadays would work without taking into account the importance of temperament (be it via Moretti’s method, Vels’s or other current methods) and character (for example, using our system, Viñals & Puente’s Transactional Graphoanalysis based on Eric Berne’s TA).

So we can see that the description that Plato offers of khōra does not in any way contradict the later discoveries of psychoanalysis. After all, psychoanalysis is not really so recent; it was practiced by a Native American tribe near Washington that new nothing of Freud.

An understanding of khōra makes clear the need for a reassessment of the symbolism of space that we use in graphoanalysis or in the psychological analysis of handwriting via psychophysics. What is more important, through khōra, physics itself can be reassessed: the idea of temperaments, for example, is not unique to Greece. In Japan, long before they had ever heard of Hippocrates, they spoke of taiheki. In fact, Brändstrom, Paul Schlette, Thomas R. et al. (1998) affirm that all cultures have explored the concept. Likewise, khōra allows for a reassessment of the mind, in terms of character and deep personality as reached through Transactional Analysis, which is only one of many innovative and currently valid comprehensive systems of individual and social psychiatry.

A selection of paragraphs from Timaeus
A key factor in understanding the symbolism of space

33:
“(...) “Now the creation took up the whole of each of the four elements; for the Creator compounded the world out of all the fire and all the water and all the air and all the earth…”
“(…) that the animal should be as far as possible a perfect whole (…)”.
“(...) Now to the animal which was to comprehend all animals, that figure was suitable which comprehends within itself all other figures Wherefore he made the world in the form of a globe, round as from a lathe, having its extremes in every direction equidistant from the centre, the most perfect and the most like itself of all figures; for he considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the unlike (…)”
35:
Whereas he made the soul in origin and excellence prior to and older than the body… to be the ruler and mistress, of whom the body was to be the subject. And he made her out of the following elements and on this wise: Out of the indivisible and unchangeable, and also out of that which is divisible and has to do with material bodies, he compounded a third and intermediate kind of essence, partaking of the nature of the same and of the other, and this compound he placed accordingly in a mean between the indivisible, and the divisible and material. He took the three elements of the same, the other, and the essence, and mingled them into one form, compressing by force the reluctant and unsociable nature of the other into the same. When he had mingled them with the essence and out of the three made one, he again divided this whole into as many portions as was fitting, each portion being a compound of the same, the other, and the essence”.
36:
“(...) This entire compound he divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their original meeting-point; and, comprehending them in a uniform revolution upon the same axis, he made the one the outer and the other the inner circle. Now the motion of the outer circle he called the motion of the same, and the motion of the inner circle the motion of the other or diverse. The motion of the same he carried round by the side to the right, and the motion of the diverse diagonally to the left. And he gave dominion to the motion of the same and like, for that he left single and undivided (…)”.
“(...) And because she is composed of the same and of the other and of the essence, these three, and is divided and united in due proportion, and in her revolutions returns upon herself, the soul, when touching anything which has essence, whether dispersed in parts or undivided, is stirred through all her powers, to declare the sameness or difference of that thing and some other; and to what individuals are related, and by what affected, and in what way and how and when, both in the world of generation and in the world of immutable being. And when reason, which works with equal truth, whether she be in the circle of the diverse or of the same -- in voiceless silence holding her onward course in the sphere of the self-moved -- when reason, I say, is hovering around the sensible world and when the circle of the diverse also moving truly imparts the intimations of sense to the whole soul, then arise opinions and beliefs sure and certain. But when reason is concerned with the rational, and the circle of the same moving smoothly declares it, then intelligence and knowledge are necessarily perfected (…)”.
“(...) When the father creator saw the creature which he had made moving and living, the created image of the eternal gods, he rejoiced, and in his joy determined to make the copy still more like the original; and as this was eternal, he sought to make the universe eternal, so far as might be. Now the nature of the ideal being was everlasting, but to bestow this attribute in its fullness upon a creature was impossible. Wherefore he resolved to have a moving image of eternity, and when he set in order the heaven, he made this image eternal but moving according to number, while eternity itself rests in unity; and this image we call time (…)”. “(...) the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence; for we say that he "was," he "is," he "will be," but the truth is that "is" alone is properly attributed to him, and that "was" and "will be" only to be spoken of becoming in time (…)”.
52:
“(...) And there is a third nature, which is space, and is eternal, and admits not of destruction and provides a home for all created things, and is apprehended without the help of sense, by a kind of spurious reason, and is hardly real; which we beholding as in a dream, say of all existence that it must of necessity be in some place and occupy a space, but that what is neither in heaven nor in earth has no existence. Of these and other things of the same kind, relating to the true and waking reality of nature, we have only this dreamlike sense, and we are unable to cast off sleep and determine the truth about them. For an image, since the reality, after which it is modelled, does not belong to it, and it exists ever as the fleeting shadow of some other, must be inferred to be in another, grasping existence in some way or other, or it could not be at all (…)” (a direct reference to khōra).
“(...) that being and space and generation, these three, existed in their three ways before the heaven; and that the nurse of generation, moistened by water and inflamed by fire, and receiving the forms of earth and air, and experiencing all the affections which accompany these, presented a strange variety of appearances; …”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Allport, G. W., Pattern and growth in personality / La personalidad: su configuración y desarrollo, Nueva York, Holt, Rinehart y Winston, 1963 / Barcelona, Herder, 1974.

Cloninger C.R., Przybeck TR., Svrakic DM. (1991) The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire: U.S. normative data. Psychological Reports 69: 1047-1057.

Cloninger CR., Svrakic DM. Przybeck TR. (1993) A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry 50: 975-990.

Cloninger CR (1994) Temperament and personality. Current Opinions in Neurobiology 4: 266-273.

Derrida, Jacques (1993): Khôra. Galilee, París

Gille-Maisani, J.Ch. (1990): Tempéraments psychobiologiques et groupes sanguins. Expression graphologique et artistique, Frison Roche.

Gille-Maisani, J.Ch. (1978): Types de Jung et tempéraments dans l’écriture. Correlation avec le groupe sanguin. Utilisation en psychologie appliquée, Maloine, 1ª parte.

Gille-Maisani, J.Ch. (1991): Psicología de la escritura, Barcelona, Ed. Herder.

Millon, Theodore (1998) Disorders of Personality: DSM-IV-TM and Beyond, 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. NY, 18-20, 44-ss.

Mira y López, E. Le Psychodiagnostic Miocinétique. *(e-libro) Centre de Psychologie Appliquée, Paris, 1951; 2da ed. 1962. Edición en español: Psicodiagnóstico Miokinético (PMK) Ed. Paidós, Buenos Aires, 1957; 2da ed. 1962; 6ª reimpresión, 1979. Edición en inglés: Myokinetic Psychodiagnosis, Ed. Logo Press, New York, 1958. Edición en alemán: Ed. Hans Huber, Berna, 1964.

Muntañola, Josep: Hermeneutics, semiotics and architecture. Timaeus revisted. Mecanografiado.

Platón (1992): Diálogos VI; Filebo, Timeo, Critias. Traducciones, introducción y notas por M. Ángeles Durán y Francisco Lisi. Gredos, Madrid

Ross, David (1986): Teoría de las ideas de Platón. Cátedra, Madrid

Streletski, Dr. Camille (1943): Précis de Graphologie pratique, deuxieme édition entiérement revue et corrigée, Vigot Frères, Editeurs, Paris, 11-12

Sven Brändstrom, Paul Schlette, Thomas R. et al. (1998) Swedish Normative Data on Personality Using the Temperament and Character Invetory. Comprenhensive Psychiatry, Vol. 39, No 3: 122-128.

Viñals, Francisco, Puente, Mariluz (1999): Psicodiagnóstico por la escritura, Grafoanálisis Transaccional, Editorial Herder, Barcelona

Extract of the basic characteristics of Graphology

2007-06-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

To facilitate the comprehension of the essential graphology terms that are used in Spain, the Institute of Graphological Sciences presents the 200 basic terms with their traslation in English.

Forensic Handwriting Analysis

2007-06-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

Postgraduate Degree in Forensic Handwriting Analysis of the School of Doctoral Studies and Continuing Education -- Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain/Europe)

MASTER'S DEGREE IN DOCUMENT EXAMINATION AND JUDICIAL ANALISYS OF PATENTS AND TRADE MARKS

Personality Portrait of Hergé (the author of Tintin's adventures)

2007-05-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Escola de Postgrau

PROGRAMME IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HANDWRITING AT THE UNIVERSITAT AUTÒNOMA DE BARCELONA

(HOMAGE TO HERGÉ, THE AUTHOR OF “THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN”, ON THE ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH)

PERSONALITY PORTRAIT OF HERGÉ (GEORGES REMI)

Viñals & Puente's Transactional Graphoanalysis (Spain/Europe)

Francisco Viñals Carrera and María Luz Puente Balsells
Directors of the Master’s Programme in Graphistics, Graphopathology and Forensic Graphology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Authors of Análisis de escritos y documentos en los servicios secretos (The analysis of writings and documents in the secret services), Barcelona, Herder, 2003

Initial considerations From amongst the graphisms examined, we have selected the most spontaneous ones; examples of dedications and of more calligraphic writing have been giving only secondary consideration, since they generally provide no elements worth studying—aside from some small details that supplement the author’s natural writing style. The samples and images are taken of "Editorial Juventud"; we are grateful for his collaboration

PSYCHOSOMATIC CHARACTERISTICS
(Psychobiology and Temperament)

A graphological perspective shows us that the psychophysical level accompanied Hergé for quite some time, stimulating him in his need to continually outdo himself. He has a "self-improvement" script, despite the potential difficulties from which he suffers on a permanent basis, but which he is able to overcome thanks to inner strength (he channels handwriting energy via compensations, sublimations, a good basic rhythm, methodical inequalities and elements of fluidity or harmonised movement).

He is driven by objectives; he needs to feel participant in the act of creation, in a project. At times, he even needs to test himself, to see how he measures up and to show what he is worth. He feels the need to overcome his worries and his meticulousness, to go beyond those anxieties that could block him and make him question (or regret) his undertakings.

There might be inner battles waging due to his need to take risks and prove himself, what with a rather reserved attitude and a greater tendency towards creativity than towards social competitiveness.

He has a temperament which fosters receptiveness, even a creativity of discernment and taste; but that same temperament is also responsible for a kind of nervousness and concern about the image or opinion that others may have of him.

VOLITIONAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS
(Character)

He tends to hold himself back and does not like to act impulsively; rather, he prefers to think about what he is going to do and examine the situation thoroughly before making up his mind. He fears failure and takes greats pains to make the right decision.

Sometimes an air of moralism or meticulousness might appear, for he cannot bear complications that just end up making things more confused.

This same inner battle can also be seen in a tendency to give undue importance to obstacles as well as in a need for self-affirmation (which is a way of compensating for a feeling of vulnerability). It is as he has some overriding need to be constantly outdoing himself despite his fears. And yet he is certainly on the right path, because he is aware of his desire to free himself of the script that fences him in. His ability to understand the psychology behind others and to engage in self-analysis (or, to put it another way, his ability to put himself through psychoanalysis) made it easier for him to understand facets of his deep personality and to accept himself with generosity: this is due to having an "inner conductor", which is to say, the Adult from Transactional Analysis (TA) with an important share of Nurturing Parent (progressive/ slant to the right, open to the right, softness or concaveness in axes, ascenders and descenders towards the right).

His strong willpower helps him in this drive towards renewal: he strives to be objective and to fit in with the overall social parameters. He won't rebel without reason, nor is he willing to be a misfit or a non-conformist: he chooses to integrate, but always within his understanding of ethics and aesthetics and without ever losing his humanitarian attitude or giving up on the technical and social progress needed. He is aware of what is appropriate—or perhaps he merely has good intuition—and he knows how far his art will take him in his contribution to posterity, offered with a keen sense of justice that evolves together with his personality itself; taken as a whole, these characteristics enable him to perform the role of the best of teachers.

His need for social interaction is more an ideal than a reality: he fears direct contact and prefers to socialize through his art. Nonetheless, due to extreme sensitivity, he feels compelled to respond to those who address him and tries to answer all the correspondence he receives. However, like an introvert who has been all but forced to interact with people, he suffers from a kind of insecurity and prefers to keep his distance, since otherwise he gets hurt easily. He knows that his way of expressing himself is through his art and his stories (not unlike many musicians who are better at composing and interpreting than at conversing). Apart from his need to protect himself (to maintain his independence and protect his fragile Ego, his frightened inner child who has survived thanks to his artistic ability), one notices his moral strength and the high value he places on qualities such as friendship; he projects these qualities onto Tintin himself, but also on to Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, and other secondary characters of all social classes, from high dignitaries to the humblest outcasts (and not only with his more imaginative characters, but also with those that are faithful images of reality, such as his friend Chang).

Although Hergé manifests Tintin’s humility, it is as if he believes deep down that he has an important mission to complete in life—his gentlemanly demeanour does him honour. Indeed, his work has had a very positive influence on many generations of children and adolescents, all of whom (now adults) testify to the educational benefit received in those delicate and formative years.

INTELLECTUAL AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS

An ideal combination of quick intuition and deductive logic come together in Hergé's mind, leading to a superior intelligence possessing remarkable graphic and abstract ability. Key elements of social intelligence, such as empathy or the psychological astuteness needed to comprehend personality, provide him not only with technical-scientific skills and ability in graphic design (no need to mention the creative and artistic parts—it has been said that every vignette from his books is a work of art in itself), but also with a masterful ability to assign characterological roles and behavioural manifestations.

He is observant, sharp-thinking, and detailed: sometimes he even goes over ideas too much (slightly obsessive). He tries to get to the bottom of issues and is good at connecting ideas and finding common points to unite different subjects.

He is orderly and strives for clarity in ideas and concepts: he does not like confusion or for things to be complicated. He will omit certain details if necessary to protect himself from a potential enemy, or he will turn it around and say or do things in a different way, which ends up being the way he actually wanted to frame the question deep down.

It is obvious that his aesthetic sense helps his creativity; moreover, being an organised person, he is effective at putting his ideas into practice.

His imagination plays a very active role and his feelings are also focused on aesthetic concerns, meaning he can develop his creativity and contribute ideas that were advanced for their time.

DEEP PERSONALITY ASPECTS

At times he hides his true emotional state so that others will not realise how emotionally vulnerable he is. He finds it difficult to be completely relaxed and to feel free to express his most intimate feelings spontaneously among others; in social interactions he tries to maintain appropriate behaviour and give the correct "image". Despite this, and as has already been mentioned, he possesses the qualities of receptiveness, willpower, and ability to self analyse; as a consequence, he ends up re-discovering himself and fights for that new personality, all of which favours development and freedom from excessive anxiety.

Nonetheless, fear and insecurity can be seen in inhibitory graphological signs, such as in the suspension of letters or endings, or in the concealing “s’s” which are often tied to long descenders, although at times they are also cut short. This variability could indicate a hidden erotic or sexual impressionability (hidden due to fear of showing it openly), or the misogyny of which he has been sometimes accused for not including enough images of women in the books of Tintin, but which has often been explained away as being due to the circumstances of that particular time in history and the fact that boys and girls were kept apart (i.e. separate schools), and that this affected even adventure stories and comic books. Although from a more graphoanalytical perspective, these concealing letters (“s’s” which are developed below the base line) imply a complex whose origins can be found in the consequences of his mother's having suffered humiliation at the hands of her husband (i.e. the father of the child): the child perceives this imposition placed on the mother and what develops is fear and at the same time a thoughtlessness towards the parents: towards the father because of his aggressiveness and towards the mother because of her fear of defending her child and because of her giving in to the pressure exerted by the man of the house. Not to say that Hergé was indifferent towards sex: indeed, he had two wives, and the aforementioned erotic impressionability can be seen in his handwriting (in the fluctuations in dimension, changes in pressure, etc.), although it is true that he conceals it due to the shame he feels at his own sexual vulnerability. He is a person who suffers from infantile psychological self-censorship, but he is also conditioned by the cultural and religious baggage picked up in his childhood, and like the perfect Boy Scout he suffers the pangs of bad conscious; he is especially afraid that others might reproach him for his sexuality, even more so when his goal was to create the perfect hero, a model for young people. In any case, human defects are incorporated into other characters, such as Captain Haddock with his alcohol problem, but sex is never dealt with (sex seems to be a bit of a taboo for Hergé). Although here we must repeat that he is no misogynist: he merely suffers from an excessive sense of public shame.

He is able to overcome his doubts, but they are there: there is variability, inhibitory moments, oscillations, changes in expansion and in pressure. He is a sensitive soul, and yet driven by admirable willpower. Rhythm appears again, it manifests itself and ends up controlling the situation; it is like a river that flows around all obstacles until reaching the sea. His attitude towards life is in fact that of the “Little Professor” found in Transactional Analysis, which is where the subject says: “I'm OK, and when I'm not OK, I find the way to be OK" (the “Little Professor”, being a “Child”, feels bad, insecure; but this “Child”, thanks to the personal computer he has built within his mental configuration to resemble the “Adult”—which is the more mature ego state in the personality, the one which is objective, reasonable, logical and deductive—is able to overcome the prohibitions, censorship, negativities, problems, etc., thanks to ingenuity and creativity).

Hergé’s work is precisely that: ingenious creativity at the service of his need to flee in a positive way (in inventing very real and visionary stories, a profound message delivered with an unmatchable wealth of aesthetic, formal and ethical details linked together with rigorously researched knowledge of geography and science). In terms of his writing, we notice evasiveness which is not quite threadlike; an inter-word distance representing great moments of self-reflection and distance from the object and from others, in order to contemplate and bring that same impulse to a stop that appears in some rushed endings and “t” crossbars (and sometimes the upstrokes as well). This may show a certain rebelliousness against negative ideas that he categorises as belonging to prevailing or institutional “authority”, ideas with which he does not always agree and against which he rebels subliminally, indirectly, thanks to the characters from his work (especially Tintin, who, as Hergé himself often stated in interviews, was nothing more than a projection of how he himself would have like to have been—as sure as millions of his readers would have liked to have been as well).

As well, there are impulsive, sharp, right-slanting traits, which are, however, compensated by dimensional regulation and by the fluctuation of harmonised contrasts: this can be taken as one step further towards the “Integrated Adult” (where both the “Child” and “Parent” are allowed to work under the guidance of the “Adult” from TA). Aggression is perfectly canalised against evil; Hergé's sense of justice is transformed (through the gentlemanly Tintin) into a way of compensating for potential frustrations, unjust impositions and moral assaults (whether they are suffered directly or indirectly, individually or collectively). The avenging angel rewards the good and punishes the evil, some of whom, like ghosts, rise up again diabolically; but they end up neutralised in the end, always against a perfect backdrop where intelligence (at the service of good) wins out.

Hergé is in fact a great psychologist, although he is unaware of the fact. This could be considered a decisive element in his popularity: on the one hand there is his artistic ability tied to an extraordinary—and almost obsessive—perfectionism (a characteristic of the “Parent” from TA: ligature, revisions for clarification, tied to hybrid elements with the “Adult”: simplifications but with the need to specify details), due to which he would never let any of his books be published unless they are perfectly documented (history, geography, anthropology, politics, technology and science). On the other hand, there is his receptiveness (small variations, garlands, etc.) with subtleness and empathy (moments of decreasing dimension, occasional sharp and pointy strokes, progressive oscillations, etc.). Together they make up an ideal combination for defining each character from his stories, or comics, as well as any scriptwriter, film director, consultant or experts could—and all in one person: Hergé. The “Integrated Adult” from TA (harmony which integrates opposites within the personality) finds its ideal expression in the character of Tintin, as we already pointed out in our book Análisis de escritos y documentos en los servicios secretos, Barcelona, Herder, 2003. That is why Tintin is a model; that is why he is a character with qualities and virtues admired by so many.

Then there is Captain Haddock, who integrates conservative moral values but with the contradiction of the inner battle that wages within. On the one hand, he has given himself over to alcohol (to evasive temptations), but on the other hand, there is the Boy Scout’s personal conviction that he would be willing to give his life for values such as friendship. He also reflects important aspects of the “ghosts” or “worries" from which Hergé suffers; here Haddock no longer reflects who Hergé would like to be, but rather how he expresses his most intimate feelings, his fears and frustrations, his changing moods, his joys and sorrows, his euphoria and depression. This dramatic aspect of Haddock the realist or positivist (a characteristic which is found in the 2 and the 7 from the Enneagram, that is to say, TA’s “Nurturing Parent” and “Free Child”) is everything that Hergé would like to shout out loud: his most emotional side and yet, at the same time, a theatre rehearsal in its social expressivity.

Thus, with Captain Haddock, Hergé shows how he has developed and psychoanalytically dealt with the fact that Tintin was too perfect and needed at his side a human being who, despite being a gentleman (something which unconsciously gratifies Hergé and makes up for the rest), had distinct defects. These defects sometimes even appear as assets, which is not always the case with the stupidity that a humble Hergé occasionally attributes to himself in interviews when speaking about the brothers Dupond and Dupont (Thomson and Thompson). These two brothers make up the part that Hergé likes least about himself, although they are his way of laughing at his own silliness; and for that reason, like a good psychologist, he accepts, protects and accompanies them in his comics, out of pity and as a recognition of the fact that wisdom must include compassion for the clumsy and for those with less abilities than oneself (even if they are able to get on the nerves of the most patient person).

So much for the more human side of Hergé. But, like his writing, which is progressive and takes on original shapes and distinct simplifications, Hergé does not stagnate: rather, he develops new aspects of his hidden personality. Take, for example, the introverted or reserved quality that is reflected in Professor Calculus. The professor is not like the emotional and sometimes furious exteriorisation that is Captain Haddock (who also shares a good deal of the “Nurturing Parent” with Tintin and Professor Calculus). Calculus (although he has a big heart, read “Nurturing Parent”) is a “Nurturing Parent” in the service of all of society through his scientific discoveries. And yet, he is rather introverted and distant, as if absent. Hergé takes on these "oddities": his avoidance, his introspective tendency, his pleasure in imagination, isolated from direct contact (this is backed up by interviews in which Hergé has attested that his parents would either punish him or give him pen and paper so that he would stop pestering them; he learned at that time to retreat into himself via drawing, something which clearly marked him and stayed with him for the rest of his life). This could explain the unconscious gratification he gets from interiorised creativity, which is reflected in Professor Calculus, an inventor who spends all his time locked up in his lab or working on experiments. The professor is in reality another of Hergé’s rationalised expressions, logically transformed (like the rest) into an admirable figure. He is admired not because of his appearance, but rather because of the antithesis thereof: a privileged mind which, like Hergé himself, is the first in making scientific progress. This schizoid facet found in both the “Little Professor” and the “Adaptive Child” from TA (or in the 4w5, the 6w5 and the 5w6 of the Enneagram) corresponds to part of Hergé’s most intimate personality: the “frightened child” or the child who hides and goes off to play alone in his little corner. But this is a child who will manage to get through it, who ends up doing a perfect job (Adaptive Child: clarity, but with vacillations, small jumps, inhibitions, retouches, oscillations, etc.); all the while being critical and rebellious (“Rebellious Adaptive Child” or 5 from the Enneagram: some diagonal upstrokes, occasional cramped letters); investigating and creating (the contribution of the “Little Professor”: original shapes, multifaceted, decreasing, quick); but always with an acute ethical and moral sensibility (the constant presence of the “Parent”: ligature with spontaneous and clear writing, readjustments thanks to rhythm and insistent clarifying retouches). Professor Calculus could therefore be taken to be a very personal projection of how Hergé really feels about himself intimately, deep down, there where his psychoanalytical introspection has reached in his construction of ego states towards the harmonic personality of Tintin.

More: http://www.grafologiauniversitaria.com/ARTICLES_DOCUMENTATION.htm

Con la colaboración especial de
EDITORIAL JUVENTUD
www.editorialjuventud.es/18-tintin.htm
Samples and Images © Editorial Juventud

Viñals & Puente's Transactional Graphoanalysis

2007-04-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

By Francisco Viñals Carrera

The Transactional Graphoanalysis that we created with Mª Luz Puente is the technique that has offered us the greatest success in fields such as human resources. When in 1980 we were still involved in creating profiles for each type with their graphological correlations, executive schools were asking us to give lectures; beyond the tremendous success in staff-hiring and submitting personality reports, we have been training psychologists from the most important Spanish recruitment firms, such as IOR.

This method is now taught at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in the Master's Degree in Graphistics, Graphopathology and Forensic Graphology and the Postgraduate Degree (Diplomatura de Postgrado) in Psychological Analysis of Handwriting, Graphoanalysis, Graphopathology and Graphic Projective Tests; in addition, SOBRAG has organised courses on the same method (which they call Psychodiagnostic Assessment via Handwriting: Transactional Graphoanalysis); training which arose from the translation of our work into Portuguese by Vetor Editora, with the collaboration of Paulo Sergio de Camargo and Edwin André Leibl.

Transactional Graphoanalysis has the advantage that by evaluating the parameters according to dominants and subdominants, the percentile and combinations of the new types of TA is obtained, a current typology and one which is easily understood and put into practice in the business world.

Although the Transactional Graphoanalysis Chart is based on the French School’s way of classifying genera and species, it incorporates complementary concepts from the Italian (Morettian) School as well as from the German School. When, within the overall order of the page, we pay attention to the general graphic environment, in one way we are applying part of the German concept of balance between: movement, shape and space, all of which are distinct concepts according to Heiss:

Movement: covers what we include within the aspects or genera of Pressure, Shape, Speed, and Cohesion and refers to that which is most temperamental, the psycho-physical strength (temperament, emotions, moods, basic motivations).

Shape: covers shape in its aesthetic sense (Originality/Legibility) with some interrelations to other aspects such as Continuity; related to the conscious process of information and culture, the Behavioural shape.

Space: “Spatial order” (proportionality, the Italian’s schools triple distance: Interline, Interword and Interletter), “Dimension” (included by some German authors), the “Direction of the lines”, “Slope”, has to do with adaptation to the environment, integration, organisation, the relation between interior space (or one’s own space) and exterior space (or the space of others).

Cultural anthropology helps us explain the different perceptions according to social contexts; it is extraordinary to realise that if we examine the handwriting analysis of a good German graphologist and a good French, Italian or Spanish graphologist, we arrive at the same conclusions. Each school has its own method of designating terms as well as its own system of classifications, since as we have already pointed out, each culture has its own language and way of expression; but we repeat that it is merely another way of designating or classifying. The Germans have debated and continue to debate amongst themselves on whether this way of dividing aspects is appropriate. Roda Wieser severely criticised Heiss and followers such as Gross for these divisions, arguing that they were moving away from the Klagesian model and were not able to precisely capture the formniveau; others see formniveau in the appropriate combination of movement, shape and space. Klages, however, calls Graphic harmony by the name of Rhythm of periodicity, a concept which is equivalent to Crepieux-Jamin’s Harmony and to Moretti’s Methodically Uneven writing. He suggests that there must be unevenness or variations in the graphic parameters, but they are compensated; that is to say, they find their balance in the writing (small irregularities in dimension which are compensated for; elasticity that allows the writing to be neither rigid nor loose; small oscillations in the slope, in the direction of the line; shapes that are different in the way they are created or linked but without seeming odd, but rather being the result of practice in order to carry out the movements more effectively, that is to say, to simplify matters). Formniveau also implies a sufficient level of harmonisation, an expansive strength that is typical of the sanguine temperament or positive "free child" (TA). Movement thus predominates as the creative force par excellence, but with greater levels of shape and space appropriate to said movement. A piece of writing can therefore have a strong formniveau, but that does not mean it has obtained the highest level of harmony; another example of writing may not have a high degree of formniveau and yet still be even more harmonious since the predominance of movement is sacrificed in order to achieve a compensation or perfect balance between movement, shape and space.

Practically the same thing happens with character typologies —we had already noticed interesting correlations between the classic graphoanalysis of Vels and the Morettian temperaments. Now with our advanced system of Transactional Graphoanalysis, there is a clear correlation with the Enneagram as well as with the “normal” types to be found within every tendency towards disorder according to Millon. With respect to Pophal’s Tension Degrees, there could also be a correlation in the following way:

Degree I: (Shapeless-Listless) tendency towards Adapted Submissive Child
Degree II: (Sanguine) tendency towards Free Child
Degree III: (Lymphatic-Sanguine) tendency towards Nourishing Father with Adult
Degree IVa: (Bilious) tendency towards Critical Father
Degree IVb: (Bilious-Nervous) tendency towards Rebellious Adapted Child
Degree V: (Graphopathology)

Publications about Questioned Documents

2007-04-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

VIÑALS, Francisco - PUENTE, Mariluz (2006): Diccionario Jurídico-Pericial del Documento Escrito. Documentoscopia, Grafística, Lingüística Forense (Translation: Legal Dictionary - Expertise in Writing Document: Documentoscopy, Graphistic, Forensic Linguistic), Barcelona, Herder editor, Introduction by Judge Sr. José Naval, 710 pp.

This present thematic dictionary summarizes all the concepts related to handwriting and document expertise putting emphasis on the clarifying of concepts, the practical aspect of the field and the daily practice in courts. While maintaining the quality level of works of legal equivalence in regards to the scientific contribution of the most up-to-date methodologies in the field, this book fills a gap that has been openly expressed on the part of the representatives of the law, the judges and the judicial experts. It goes beyond the legal dictionary in order to interrelate the technical concepts of handwriting itself, the support and the information it may bring to the judicial proof. It is addressed to the jurists so they can decipher the technical language of the opinions given, the meaning of each concept in an understandable way, to know what they can ask or should expect, the indispensable things in this type of proof; it is also directed as much to the official as to the private field, and to the experts, it teaches the procedural process, the forensic concepts where their actions are performed, as well as the laws related to all their activity. This is the fourth of successful works of Francisco Viñals and Mariluz Puente who also supervise the training of the Judicial Handwritings and Document Experts at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in addition to having accumulated an ample experience non only as judicial experts of public institutions but also as teachers of Legal Practice, Scientific Police and Civilian and Military Intelligence.

"This is not specifically a graphology book and it is more oriented towards handwriting expertise with inclusion of document examination terminology and forensic linguistic. But the fact that it does include graphological terms gives credibility to our field as a positive help to judicial handwriting expertise, which is denied in some areas of North America. The authors are coordinators and teachers of the courses on graphology and handwriting expertise at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and have been promoting serious graphology in Spain for many years. They are also very active (president and vice-president) in the AGRUPACIÓN DE GRAFOANALISTAS CONSULTIVOS, an association founded by the famous Spanish Graphologist Augusto Vels and full-fledged member of ADEG. Their dictionary includes many entries (more than 700 pages) and should be a help to standardize the vocabulary in the field, which is long overdue. It is obviously an excellent reference book and a mine of information in everything related to forensic document and handwriting examination as well as graphological analysis". (Dor Gauthier)