Ecological Systems Analysis

Discussion:
“Revisiting the Virginia Tech shootings: An Ecological Systems Analysis”

Alexis Bird & Rebecca Graham

Instructions: Work with your assigned partner to complete the worksheet below. Post your final worksheet on one partner’s blog, with both names, for class comments and discussion.

1.            Work first on your own to apply the human ecological model to o the Virginia Tech shooting.  Focus on the individual shooter, Seung-Hui Cho. In the first row, fill in the factors present at each level that increased Cho’s risk of perpetrating violence. 

2.            Compare your results with your assigned partner.  Together, modify the first row of the table so it represents your best thinking as a team.

3.            With your partner, discuss what intervention or prevention strategies could have been implemented at each level to prevent the tragedy from happening.  Use the theory to guide your thinking.  Briefly summarize these strategies in the second row.

4.            Together, answer the question following the table, but indicate each person’s answer by name.

Post only one copy of this worksheet on one of your blogs, but with both students’ names.

	Micro	Meso	Exo	Macro	Chrono
Seung-Hui Cho Individual	(a) He was male (b) he came from a culture of strong gender roles (c) mental health issues, including anxiety, social immaturity, and poor social skills (d) isolated himself from family due to lack of communication and quality time with parents (e) peer victimization and racial stereotypes	(a) lack of communication about peer relationships to family and vice versa; two micro systems had poor association	(a) Media coverage of school shootings, leading to admiration for the perpetrators	(a) mental health was culturally shamed (b) language barriers in mental health treatment (c) conflict between Asian American values and United States mental health system (d) lack of affordable health care (e) poor communication regarding available mental health treatment (f) access to guns for those with mental illness (g)	(a) immigration from South Korea to United States (b)
Intervention and Prevention Strategies	Family therapy to discourage the isolation behaviors and encourage functional family activities that will assist in development of social skills	Family therapy to discourage the isolation behaviors and encourage functional family activities that will assist in development of social skills	Education regarding  mental health issues and how to locate assistance	Screening programs designed to limit access to guns for those with mental illnesses Additional mental healthcare programs that are affordable	Immigration preceptorships to provide immigrants or new citizens with individuals/families that acclimate them to US culture, laws, values, etc.

5.            How would the PPCT further illuminate what happened to Cho and how intervention/prevention strategies might be used?

Alexis: The interaction between the process-person-place-time makes a big difference when you consider them all together. Considering the different cultures Cho had to adapt to across different parts of his development when he migrated with his family and the person he became through these changes can explain a great deal of his maladjustment. When you also take into account how both of those interact with his family relationships and peer relationships you get an event more clear picture. Interventions to help Cho adjust to the culture difference and to teach his family the importance, and shamelessness, of getting help for mental illness may have drastically improved his changes of adjusting better after his migration. Although he was already pretty withdrawn in South Korea, putting these practices in place for immigrants may have prevented the development of mental instability and eventual violent behavior.

6.            Explain in the space below how this theory helped or didn’t help you understand the shootings and how such incidents might be prevented.

Alexis: The theory helped me understand the shootings by providing explanations of various aspects of Cho’s adjustment and personality. It explained the way each part of his life and his circumstances contributed to his instability. The culture aspect was very eye-opening as it illuminated the way his culture shamed mental issues and combined with the United States’ poor mental healthcare system created a breeding ground for maladjustment.