Serial killers are the group of people who kill, kill and kill over a longer period of time without being caught or stopped. Unlike mass murderers, who may kill many people at one time - the majority of the time because of circumstantial behavior - serial killers are a different breed. They plan, very specific in their choice of victims and are mobile. They are a real threat to society. Their choice of victims range from adolescents to old-age people, prostitutes to homosexuals having a few common characteristics: inability to defend if missed remain unnoticed by the society or any physical trait. The worrisome affair is that the serial killing machine keeps on playing the life & death game until stopped.
             Psychiatrists have long studied the behavioral patterns of serial killers and murderers. Donald Lund, a psychiatrist, concludes; that there are two broad-based categories; one termed as paranoid schizophrenia and as sexual sadism. The majority of them are men and they are insensitive creatures who do not have any conscience. Studies have also shown that childhood experiences also have an impact on the personality of serial killers. The violent behavior among these serial killers is a function of childhood characteristics. The psychological development of these murderers has been studied in detail through an understanding of their behavioral patterns.
             John Douglas, a retired FBI agent, believes to deal crime at a moral level, as it is more of a moral problem. He opines that serial killers are made, they are not born. He had developed the skills of understanding and profiling serial killers, and helped the Anchorage police (on the telephone) by describing the profile, which exactly matched the culprit (later proved). According to him, there are approximately 30 to 50 serial killers in America at a given time (Brown 1996). This is horrible, and it becomes even more horrible when we look around and watch society's role. The media ha...