Signature forgery is a prominent crime problem that is rarely discussed by criminologists. Additionally, according to the National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences (2009), it is an area of forensic science that is in need of more rigorous research. The present study has two parts. In the first part, the number and types of changes that typically result when a writer disguises his or her signature were investigated. In the second part, the effect that the level of guardianship has on the interaction between the offender and the guardian in forgery and document fraud crimes was examined. Environmental crime theories suggest that the presence of a guardian reduces crime because it decreases the opportunity to offend (Felson & Clarke, 1998). However, in certain kinds of crimes, the presence of a guardian may not be enough to deter an offender from engaging in criminal behavior; the guardian must also be perceived by the offender as capable and skilled. In the case of forgery crimes and document fraud, it is unclear how offenders respond to and determine capable guardianship. By understanding how offenders interpret and adapt to different levels of guardianship, effective prevention strategies may be developed. A secondary data source was used for this study. The data were collected from a sample of college students at Michigan State University. Three primary statistical techniques were used for the data analysis portion of the project: (1) Chi-square test of independence, (2) Tukey-Kramer Pairwise Comparisons, and (3) Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The results for the first part of the study showed that letter form, legibility, size, spelling, and spacing were the most frequently altered handwriting features, and the second part showed that the participants were influenced by the scenario (i.e., level of guardianship).
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