Handwriting features of terrorists

ACCORDING to Onigraffiks Contemporary Dictionary, terrorism is seen as “the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act in a definite way to achieve selfish desired objectives by a group of persons”. A major terrorist trait tendency is violence, with its subsequent effects in killings, destructions, bombings, kidnappings and so on. A Nigerian contemporary and classic case is the issue of Boko Haram, a high-level destructive terrorist group that has claimed several human lives, kidnapping of Chibok girls, and had brought high-level insecurity and so on. The terrorist group can be identified through the medium of handwriting.

Handwriting Analysis or Graphology is a science of identifying, evaluating and understanding a person’s personality through the patterns (features) revealed by his handwriting. Just like fingerprints, handwriting is unique to each individual. Once we have learned to write as a child and we grow up in that manner as an unconscious act; completely embedded in our subconscious perception and it is difficult to disguise the writing by another.

The conscious brain part guides the hand and generates the thoughts during the process of writing, while the subconscious intuition generates the manner with which the writer inscribes the letters, words and sentences on paper. Everything expressed on paper by the writer’s pen strokes is a result of a two-way circuit between the brain and the motor reflex muscles of the hand. The motor system controls the movement and posture needed for handwriting by contraction and relaxation of muscles. Messages go to and from the muscles and the brain through the nervous system. During handwriting process, the senses and muscles send messages back to the brain to enable it know how the sequence, timing and pressure of the hand on pen work out. The basic information required to write come from the brain, not from the muscles of the shoulder, arm, hand or fingers. Once the basic pattern is established in the brain the muscles and nerves of the shoulder, arm, hand and fingers become important network organs as they effect the appearance of the written lines, letters, words or sentences as observed on paper.

The handwriting features of terrorists, usually and definitely express negative symptoms and high-level criminal tendencies, a result of change in their thinking and thoughts habits generated over a long period of time. This lifestyle over a   period of time results into terrorist tendencies and situation, which is reflected in handwriting. Handwriting is a product of established human thought forms expressed on paper as a graphically frozen movement of neural impulses or signals organized by the central nervous system.

However, terrorists’ handwritings depict among others the following basic psychographic features:

A writing that is childish and immature in its illogical formations; a writing showing very little or no rhythm, order and pattern, a symptom of emotional instability and unpredictability of behavioural exhibitions; totally self-centred ass the major focus is on the satisfaction and gratification of his immediate socio- biological-material needs without regard to human lives and properties;

Definitely the writing consists of inconsistent pressure textures and emphasis on the middle and lower zone letters in the script; the terrorists handwritings also show disagreeable pastosity of coarse, untidy, muddy or blurred strokes and the abundant psychographic signs of confusion which indicate strong need to satisfy urges of negative, pervasive, and wanton sexuality, cruelty and violence; lower zone letters formations especially the loops that extend to the left combine with the pastosity to indicate an explosive temper with perverse sadistic tendencies that result to killings, bombings, rapes, etc; the low(poor) form level in quality of writing pattern, expression of overall appearance as in organization, simplicity of form, rhythm, originality and dynamic forward movement of writing which indicates a weakness of character and repression of anger; the presence of uneven gaps  between letters in a word  and words in a line is a clue that the terrorists do not socialize  with others.

Lastly, if terrorists could change the process and manner of their thinking and thoughts – lifestyle to positive-joyful activities through holistic rehabilitation involving several approaches by specialists. They can then begin to awaken and develop their true or noble potentials (fruits of the spirit), which will in time spring up virtues for the human race as reflections of greatness and fulfilment to the honour, beauty and service of the Most High.

•Ezeohagwu is a Faculty member, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Professor of Occupational Graphology at Poma International Business University, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin.