Stanton Samenow is a clinical psychologist based out of Alexandria. He specializes in criminal behavior and is the author of "Inside The Criminal Mind," a book examining the psyches of people who commit crimes such as stalking, domestic violence and computer crime.
Samenow spoke with the Alexandria Gazette about the shootings that took place at Virginia Tech University and whether they could have been prevented.
<b>Alexandria Gazette:</b> Is there any way to predict or prevent an action like this?
<b>Stanton Samenow:</b> I don’t think that we are really able to predict specifically this sort of incident. We could do a better job of identifying people who are showing certain patterns and trying to help them get help. But we couldn’t predict a specific event like this. Lots of people write violent plays, lots of people make violent drawings, but by no means are all these people going to go out and kill someone. There’s a real danger in leaping from what someone writes to what that person does. On the other hand, if you have a difficult person who doesn’t get along with others, a person who is determined that he is going to prevail in any situation no matter how he does it, a person who sees himself as the hub of wheel in which everyone revolves, that still doesn’t mean you have a mass murderer. But it does mean that you have a person who should be encouraged to seek help, even at an early age. We can say, this person is trouble. But we can’t say what kind what kind of trouble. We do try to identify [them] early but we should try to identify earlier with kids who aren't seeming to internalize concepts of injury to others. That’s what we can do early. [But] anyone who says that you can predict it, I think that they are wrong.
<b>AG:</b> Was the shooter insane or mentally ill?
<b>SS:</b> I think you have to be careful in assuming mental illness. Extreme behavior doesn’t mean insanity. We know that these shootings were planned well in advance by a person who was very calculating. It’s unwarranted to assume that this person is mentally ill. Most people I’ve interviewed, including serial killers, are not mentally ill.
<b>AG:</b> Why do spree killings like these usually occur in suburban or rural areas and not in urban areas?
<b>SS:</b> People who live in inner cities would say they’re faced with shootings and homicides every day, by gangs and drug lords. It may be that [in urban areas] one person does not go and mow a bunch of people down. But gangs do… drive-by shootings where. I wouldn’t say this phenomenon is alien to urban areas. On campuses and in rural areas, there’s more openness [and] more physical space to maneuver. [But] this kind of mind is not limited to any area of the country. It is not limited to any race or ethnic group. This pattern goes across all backgrounds.