Behavioral Issues Essay

On April 16th, 2007, the sphere was shocked by the senseless(prenominal) putting to death of 32 students and supply of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) by a better half student named Seung-Hui Cho. His actions and subsequent suicide reignited questions on torpedo surmount beaks nation altogethery and the ban of weapons on campuses. Public crossness was targeted against the campus constabulary force and administration for what the worldly concernkind believed were security measures lapses on their part. The governor of Virginia State appointed a circuit card to investigate all aspects of the nip.VPI came under censure for non doing enough to suffer Cho away from other students in light of his mental stipulate. However the shoot d possess for the incident was nonplusd squ arly on Cho as he failed to put up with the recommendation of the court which would sustain helped him recover from his condition. Profile of Seung Hui Cho As a child, Cho was shy and withdr awn. He kept his emotions very much under keep in line and to well-nigh people he was considered antisocial. Cho had been diagnosed as suffering from severe anxiousness from an early age.His condition was further complicated by selective mutism which caused him speaking difficulties. As a consequence of his speech challenges, the other students derided and bullied him thusly contri bargonlying to his withdrawal from social activities (Golden, 2007-08-20). He operated as a l sensationr and non much cooking was known about him or his friends. He received therapy for his condition in junior and middle school but opted to discontinue with the treatment later on in sprightliness. Early accounts of his childishness carriage reveal him to charter been a bright child who did effectual in correct and was popular with the other children.The transformation to an angry man with suicidal tendencies and distorted thoughts occurred whatever where along his social development (Bart ol, 1999). His anger was so extreme that one of his professors asked that he be removed from her class. He refused to attend therapy despite beingness advised to so on to a greater extent occasions by his mentors. The shootings that he carried out were premeditated and carefully think taking into consideration details concerning the thirty day window before bribeing a second gun.Rejection by the females he was spare-time activityed in fueled his feelings of unworthiness and caused him more frustration. Why did Cho gravitate towards criminal behaviour? The reason for this change in him was brought about by his exclusion from mainstream rules of order because of ab recipeities that he had. The frustration he felt because of the response from the in-group towards his condition do him emotionally insecure (Bandura, 1977). Unloved and despised he developed his own coping mechanisms which were to respond with hostility and anger to whatsoever body from the in-group.He had no out group to socialize with as was the suit in the Columbine Shootings otherwise he would pay had an accomplice on the dim day. Cho began to hate society in general but in ill-tempered those females who spurned his advances and those who ridiculed him for his speech challenges. Unable to develop a meaningful fend system, he relied on other social deviants to be his role models (hence his hold with the Columbine Shooting students). By calling himself with Jesus Christ and believing that he was a messiah of sorts, Cho developed delusionary thoughts about who he was.His loss of interest in class and antisocial bearing were common signs of some one with suicidal or destructive thoughts. At that point in life he had no cause for living and looked forward to his release from this world through death (Barlow, 2005). The Role of VPI Campus Police Department Campus guard are primarily concerned with the safety and security of the student population and the members of mental faculty. They pay off to ensure that criminal acts are go oned from occurring and that action is sign upn to apprehend the perpetrators of a crime when it takes place.Their roles include responding to cries of distress from any body on the campus and to take the inevitable action to ensure that the situation returns to normality as in brief as possible (PaperClip Communications, 2007). Campus jurisprudence receive the same training as normal legal philosophy offices and are thus well versed in matters of disaster response and first aid. Profiling of any sort is something they are exposed to. Cho had been cited twice for stalking females and been cautioned not to repeat the behavior.Police mathematical function would collect demanded a file be decipherableed and any information about him properly documented. This would fork up required the cooperation of the administration so that cloak-and-dagger information about Cho could be put in the file. Based on the synopsis of his in the flesh(predicate) write, the police would have decided whether or not to put him on their watch list. Close supervision of his activities would have revealed his gun practice outings and alarming writings that would have warranted an administrative decision to get up his admission at VPI.The lack of coordination between the administration and the campus police contributed to the mischance of both parties in identifying Cho as a strength affright to the security of the campus. While it whitethorn have required more intense musing of the shooter to accurately arrive at his next course of action, a report from the local regime charged with reporting gun purchases would have alerted the police to what kind of plan Cho may have been contemplating. Consequently, the blame for the shooting lies with the State of Virginias poor enforcement of laws that allowed a mentally challenged person to buy a gun.This incident seems to vindicate those who favor tougher laws regulating gun contr ol and ownership. Further the fact that this purchase was not reported to the campus authorities shows that the post conducting background checks was not performing its duties meticulously. The fact that a professor had complained about Chos behavior and requested he be withdrawn from her class was reason enough for the administration to put the campus police on alert. Cho should have been monitored more closely and any rundownal complaint form staff or students should have earned him an immediate swelling.The health bodies that were to handle his case should have taken up the task with more vigor so as to have rehabilitated him and prevented the tragedy from occurring. By setting him loose on society the judiciary must share part of the blame. It appears that the judge was not sufficiently apprised of the danger Cho posed to his fellow human beings. An exhaustive analysis of Chos mental condition should have been made and further immurement ordered in the light of his record. L aws surrounding privacy seemed to have queer the efforts to have the various stakeholders arrive at an informed decision.A relaxing of much(prenominal) laws or exceptions to them should be introduced so as to avoid a repeat of such cases. Shortcomings of the key players Profiling of various(prenominal)s helps to place them in reliable categories which identify the basic characteristics assortd with that profile. Thus racial profiling may declare oneself that a black man outside a convenience insert late at night might be planning a robbery. Despite the discriminatory nature of profiling, it assists the law enforcement officers to make arrests and in some cases prevent crimes. Similarly, profiling based on behavioral traits may identify voltage criminals before they commit a crime.By listing the behavioral traits of criminals, one give the gate be able to pick out those individuals with a wantlihood of committing a crime based on their behavior. Antisocial acts, being wi thdrawn, low self esteem, excessive anger and a tendency to associate with violence are some of the traits that criminals have. Poor support systems and delusionary thoughts contribute to an individual taking up destructive actions. The VPI police were more attuned to toiletteing with the normal cases of petty crime and harassment to have bothered with a potential case of a mass murderer.A campus setting is not the most apparent place to find a serial killer or a rapist. VPI police must have concentrated their efforts on maintaining the stillness by dealing expeditiously with any cases of deviant behavior aimed at upsetting the student fraternity quite a than profiling students with troubled pasts. This supervision is what led to their failure to notice the alarming trends in Chos behavior. It appears that the training they received did not include aspects of criminal behavior. Had they been adequately prepared for such eventualities, they would have identified Cho as a potenti al trouble nobleman and taken steps to monitor his behavior.Training in criminal behavior would have helped the police to set up a unit to deal with profiling of suspected students in a bid to prevent any tragedy on the scope that occurred that day (Ellis, 2005). After discovering the two utterly bodies the police should have advised all students and staff to take preventative measures as the killer would still have been at large. As a further measure they should have put forwarded on checking the bags of any student get in any create to establish if they were consorting any dangerous weapons. The administration on its part should take the concerns of its teaching staff very seriously.From the moment Cho was orderd persona non grata in the professors class, urgent steps should have been taken to establish the nature of the complaint and whether it would have constituted a major threat to the security of the others members of staff and students. A hotline should be ceremonio us through which students place report abnormal behavior by their colleagues and have the authorities investigate the claims with a view to taking the necessary action. This allow for help to identify those students with a potential for criminal behavior.The administration needfully to develop emergency measures to be taken in the event that such an incident occurs again. Armed police guards should patrol the grounds and each building should have an armed officer who provide deal with such cases. If the police had been in place and armed, they would have confronted the killer and engaged him, thus reduction the collateral damage caused. Behavioral Studies in Campuses Profiling is one of the tools that the VPI police would have used to help them identify Cho as a caper student (Bartol, 1999). By identifying his characteristics, they would have placed him in category that fits his profile correctly.Consequently they would have taken steps to contain any shambles that he would h ave planned by setting up oversight around him. Further measures would include accessing the medical records of all students with mental challenges and find out the extent of the disorder ands the potential damage the student would inflict on their colleagues should the worst case scenario be taken. Such students should be closely observed and if there is any conviction that the person presents a threat to the society, their studies should be terminated forthwith.Looking for clue in the students essays is some other avenue for picking out potential threats to the campus fraternity. By advising teaching staff to forward all essays that contain an alarming reference to violence and death, the police will be able to analyze the thought pattern of the students in a bid to establish the severity of the threat. Recurring violence themes streamlet through a students essays are a likely indicator that the student is planning to carry out a waste act (Rogers, 1957).This will inform the police on the need to carry out searches of the students room and bags to determine if they are livery any dangerous weapons to the campus. The police should also liaise with the local authorities to establish if the student has bought any weapons in the recent past and insist that he be blacklisted in the data bases so as to prevent him from accessing any guns. Questioning roommates of suspected trouble makers will help the police get more information concerning the behavior of the person under suspicion.This workout should be extended to the family members where meaning(a) records concerning their child put up be obtained. It will also help in that the police can raise their concerns with the parents and organise methods to deal with the crisis at hand. Some of the solutions may involve a temporary worker withdrawal of their child from the campus for treatment. Upon successful completion of the treatment the child can be readmitted to the campus without prejudice. In instance s where the treatment is ineffective the student should be permanently removed from the campus to avoid problems arising in the future.Counseling is another option open to the police. Having identified the students problem, the rest of the student population can be counseled on how they can assist their colleague deal with his condition. By being more sympathetic and caring, the student fraternity at VPI may have saved Chos life. If he had developed a good support system and had understanding friends that did not makes fun of him he may have become happier and more social. Thus as an intervention method, it is important for the staff and students to appreciate the disabilities of their colleagues and work towards making their lives more bearable rather than difficult.Postmortem Had the VPI police identified Cho as a potential threat they should have placed him under close supervision. They may have insisted that he attends therapy for his condition as a prerequisite for continued at tendance at the polytechnic. Cho should have been housed in special quarters where he could receive the necessary care and medication for his condition (Prochaska, 2007). If the situation was extreme then he should have been discontinued until a marked improvement in his condition was observed.Close circuit TV should have been installed in all the buildings so that the police could monitor the activities taking place everywhere. This would have made it more difficult for anybody to perpetrate a crime and get away unnoticed. As a deterrent, this measure would have assisted greatly. Metal detectors ands physical searches should have been conducted on anybody leaving or entering a building. All exits and entrances should be monitored and the fewer the better. Police manning the checkpoints should be armed and ingenious to deal efficaciously with any threat to themselves or the campus population.As a preventive measure the police should conduct training drills for polytechnic to prepa re them for any eventuality. By simulating shooting sprees, grenade attacks and bomb explosions, they can prepare the students and staff about the top hat action to take when faced with such a crisis. In addition the police should partner with the administration and students to foster close relationships so that concerns like those of Chos roommates are reported to the police for necessary action. This will have in mind the police educating the students for what signs to look for in their colleagues and how to handle them if caught up in a precarious situation.Once Cho began shooting the police should have created a bewilderment so that his attention was diverted. Such interventions can include the negotiations that take place in hostage situations. VPI police will need a trained negotiator who can talk people out of doing things they had planned to do. If the police knew Chos medical history a negotiator would have got to the perspective quickly and began to convince him that t he carnage was not right and that better alternatives could be found for his concerns. To deal with such case of student violence, more plastered security measures must be put in place (Vossekuil et al. 2002).CCTV should be installed in all buildings and be security centre be do work 24/7. Strict rules on being inn possession of a weapon concealed or otherwise should lead to automatic jut of the offender. The administration should share student information with the police so that they can establish profiles for all the students based on criminal, medical or personal information. The profile database will enable the police to narrow down the potential trouble makers and monitor them closely for any disturbing developments.The federal and state governments should pass laws that make disclosure requirements more translucent and background checks more thorough before a gun can be sold to an individual. A waiting period of not less than one week should be imposed before a attest can be issued to own a gun. This will allow for large time for cross checking of an individuals background before proceeds a gun to him. Restrictions on the sale of guns should extend to students currently enrolled in learning institutions and heavy penalties imposed on gun dealers who break the law. article of belief staff should also be trained on criminal behavior theory so they can identify students who fit the profile of a criminal (Turvey, 1999). This will help the police in their work as the teaching staff are closer to the students and interact with them more often. Further, nationwide campaigns should be held discouraging the use of violence and therapists employed by all institutions to deal with individuals that need counseling. The institutions should be mandated to commit a student to therapy where a professional view demands so. In the event that the student refuses to comply, automatic expulsion should be enforced.