Cornelius Davis
DeVry University
The Life Course of a Mass Murderer
On April 16, 2007 one of the most devastating mass murders in U.S history occurred at a Virginia college. Seung-Hui Cho a 23 year old South Korean alone executed the killing of 33 people by securing colleges doors to prevent escape of any students. Events such as these are truly tragic and devastating to all involved. By gathering background information about Seung-Hui Cho, we can effectively examine social development theories as they relate to Cho and review my analysis that this particular occurrence was preventable. Born in South Korea, Seung-Hui Cho immigrated to America when he was 8 years old. Although Cho was a quiet well behave child he was awkwardly withdrawn and angry (cite book). Throughout school Cho was teased and bullied which could have been the cause of his average grades throughout school. Cho’s sister Sun-kyung was often in the school newspaper and was selected to attend the most elite Ivy League Universities (Schmalleger, 2009). Cho went on to attend Virginia tech where he was recognize once again for being extremely violent and was even removed from class. Cho was referred to multiple counselors and officials where he denied all thoughts of suicide and homicide. Although Cho denied these having these thoughts students that attend Virginia Tech could see the imminent risk rising with Cho. There are many social development theories that can be applied to Seung-Hui Cho but I feel that the Life Course Perspective accurately represents Cho most effectively. With the social development perspective, human development occurs on many levels simotaneously, including psychological, biological, familial, interpersonal, cultural, social, and ecological (Schmalleger, 2009). Social development d\theories focus on delinquencies over an extended period of time as well as transitions people go through within their life span. As the Life course
References: Schmalleger, F. (2009). Criminology today: An integrative introduction. (5th; ed., pp. 297-341). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hal. Retrieved from http://devry.vitalsource.com/ Seung-Hui Cho. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:22, Jul 28, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/seung-hui-cho-235991.