Seung-hui Cho: A Psychological Criminal Assessment of the Virginia Tech Killer

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Seung-hui Cho: A Psychological Criminal Assessment of the Virginia Tech Killer For decades mental health professionals have examined why some people behave aggressively or violently. Some professionals believe there exists what can be termed as criminal personality, while others look at early childhood experiences to explain antisocial or criminal behavior. From a psychiatric’s perspective, criminals are viewed as “sick” individuals whose deviant behavior is the result of a flawed early childhood development or mental illness (Glick, 2005, p. 110). In this paper, I will look at a disturbed 23 year old young man who was involved in the 2007 mass murder of 32 individuals at Virginia Tech, by looking at the following topics: 1. Profile Overview of Criminal and Specific Crime Committed 2. Assessment of Criminal Behavior 3. Application of Criminal Theory The review of literature focuses on these three topics. Profile Overview of Criminal and Specific Crime Committed I have chosen to examine Seung-hui Cho. He is known as the Virginia Tech Killer and is responsible for killing 32 people on campus on April 16, 2007, as well as wounding 25. He then shot himself in the head when officers broke through the doors of the building where he had committed the murders. Cho arrived in the United States from South Korea at the age of eight. His parents ran a dry cleaning business in Centreville, Virginia. He was known as a shy child who liked basketball and was good in math. In high school, Cho was described as “sullen and aloof” (Notorious Crime Files, 2008). Cho’s family in Korea thought of him as a mute or mentally ill. In the article, “A Family’s Shame in Korea,” his maternal great aunt described him as cold, expressing little emotion, not making eye contact or exchanging hugs. Cho’s mother confessed to the great aunt that he had been diagnosed with autism

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