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A Pastoral Theological Reflection of Virginia Tech Massacre: Analysis of Seung-Hui Cho’s Individual and Relational Environments.

  • Journal of Counseling and Gospel
  • Abbr : Jocag
  • 2007, 9(), pp.68-95
  • DOI : 10.17841/jocag.2007.9..68
  • Publisher : Korean Evangelical Counseling Society
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology > Pastoral Counseling
  • Received : September 30, 2007
  • Accepted : November 10, 2007

Ha, Jae Sung 1

1고신대학교

ABSTRACT

Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 innocent people, leaving 25 wounded, in Virginia Tech massacre. Who was Cho and what made this terrible rampage happen? He demonstrated extreme shyness in childhood, and he seemed to have stored devastating anger in adolescence. His unique personality and a new environment as an immigrant conjointly contributed to the dreadful killings. Cho showed psychological traits of both social phobia and anti-social personality disorder. He had history of receiving therapy because of his unusual behaviors and thoughts. Social anxiety aggravated his inability in public speaking, which in turn collected peers’mocking. Humiliation and fear deepened his anxiety, and he was well aware of its causes clearly as other social phobics do. On the other hand, his mischievous behaviors on campus may explain a possible diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder. His aggression that was eventually realized in fact was previously organized and carefully planned, which is distinctive from those with anti-social personality disorder. In addition to his individual troubles, he experienced serious social isolation at school and even in his family. Pastoral theology points to both his individual problems and his social environments. Theological reflections of his case swing in ambivalence between two poles: his life as a victim and his killing of innocent people as a criminal. He had once been abused and now he abused other people’s rights as well as his own freedom of conscience. Therefore, pastoral theologians and counselors must understand the need of individual redemption and social reformation for a Christian healing through this incident.

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