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(:onfessed serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, was sexually molested as a boy and torâ€" tured animals as a teenager. He was accused of 15 unspeakable killings in Milwaukee often after sex, mutiâ€" lation, and:cannibalizing the victim. Didn‘t anyone see what this guy was turning into? That‘s the major question haunting mental health professionals. There is little hope for treating a person who has no empathy, who can sit in front of a clinician expounding on his early life as a boy scout, while ruminating about the last girl he tortured. The general consensus is that there are no effective treatments available for the serial killer. The question then is can we identify people who are headed in that direction before it‘s too late? This year, tell her you‘d marry her all over again. drew more, and they depended on a fantasy life to replace peer relationâ€" ships. (This highly developed fantaâ€" sy life, as we‘ll see, may be critical to the development of the serial killer.) Third, depression was comâ€" mon. They have unstable relationâ€" ships, identity disturbances, and often engage in desperate measures to avoid being abandoned by others. Clearly, anyone who showed such patterns would be at risk for deviance. But how does such deviance turn violent? What pushes a person to the unspeakable? In a 1989 study, in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Robert Prentky compared 25 serial sexual killers to 17 single sexual killers. Violent fantasies were prevalent in 86% of the serial killers, and only 23% of the single murderers. It is the linking of sex and violence, early in life, that drives serial killers, according to Prentky. Moreover, the more the fantasy is rehearsed, the more power it acquires and the stronger the associâ€" 8 ation between fantasy content and sexual arousal. Based upon these results, psyâ€" chologist Louis Schlesinger, author of Sex Murder and Sex Aggression (1989), has identified several signs he believes are predictive ("premorâ€" bid") for sexual murders. These include unprovoked assaults and severe mistreatment of women; sexâ€" ual deviance; violence against aniâ€" mals; violent and primitive fantasy life; sexual inhibitions, and a preocâ€" cupation with rigid standards of morality. The most telling sign of all may soon be the Plethmograph, which directly measures arousal (penile PR io P C 2o T s A Sign You Can Trust: GOLDSMITH DIAMOND MERCHANT Mon. to Fri. 9:30 a.m.â€"8:30 p.m. Saturday 9:30 a.m.â€"5:30 p.m Jewellers circumference) to virtually any kind of scene a therapist wishes to preâ€" sent to a subject. It is now in comâ€" mon use, and a standard part of assessment of many sexual devianâ€" cies. While we cannot yet predict who will become a sexual murderer, we are learning more of the early warnâ€" ing signs. Anyone who sees a patâ€" tern of these behaviors/personality features should, of course, consult with a professional, such as a family doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist, or visit a clinic/hospital in your area. Dr. Arnold Rincover is an Oakville psyâ€" chologist. UE, _Â¥ _TRAFALGAR VILLAGE $44â€"2660 _