But the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer changed the whole situation. Risk factors associated with stalkers are. they are silent predators and usually hide under the cloak of fandom, they can harass the victims in many ways, the ultimate risk is death. The court’s order against stalking is defined in two narrow parameters. either the stalker is coming in the physical proximity of the victim or is trying to harass/terrify the victim with measures such as mails, email, phone calls, text messages or with other criminal innovations. The causes of stalking are mostly attributed to environmental factors like disrupted childhood.
Compared to stalking, serial killers are much more dangerous. The causes and risks in both populations are different. Serial killers usually take two factors. the genetics and environment, to cause such a violent behavior. While a stalker (although the research on stalking is very limited) usually acts that way because of environmental factors. The approach in the latter is usually quiet and methodical and very rarely takes the shape of a homicide.
A serial killer, on the other hand, is by definition a homicide. a person whose aim is to kill the other person to get satisfaction. This satisfaction can also be a form sexual perversion (a disorder of sexual behavior such as necrophilia).
At the rehab center for stalkers, a psycho-analyst can dig deep down into the childhood of the stalker. The point is to identify what triggers such behavior. Was it being neglected during childhood? Or was there some obsession that the suspect developed due to abusive parents or siblings? Once such factors are correctly identified, rehab can truly be effective. For instance what was not provided for the ‘patient’ during the childhood can be arranged so that the need can be fulfilled.