Increasingly promotions and other companies in Johannesburg, are requesting handwriting analysts to do impromptu analyses and then to provide 15 – 30 minute feedback to the writer. This raises an ethical dilemma. Handwriting analysis simply cannot be seen as a gimmick as it contains a great deal of very deep and often sensitive personal information. Often this information is hidden until the analyst, does a careful analysis. Sometimes the information is obvious which requires further in depth investigation. If it is obvious and the analyst has 15 minutes to debrief the writer, how does the handwriting analyst deal with this knowledge? It is therefore to be left unsaid and lost forever.
Handwriting analysis requires the ability to synthesise a lot of information to form a composite whole. How does the analyst ensure within a maximum of 30 minutes that an integrated or accurate, for that matter, picture has emerged from an ‘analysis’?. An integrated profile is impossible, with the result that the handwriting is at most superficial and uncoordinated.
But on the other hand, perhaps these sessions provide opportunities to educate the public on the seriousness of this powerful tool to measure personality and character and that it should be treated with responsibility and cautiousness.