(I have gained this information from interviewing my school guidance counselor with experience in Psychology.)
Within a community, if someone notices someone portraying symptoms of sociopathy or murderous behavior, they can be connected to mental health services. Psychological institutions can be greatly beneficial to get help for someone who has thoughts of killing others. We have seen people grow out of their problems after getting help.
This is why the understanding of criminal psychology is so important: it can help people to identify symptoms early enough to get someone the resources they need. It also helps us to understand possible motivations to create profiles and solve cases. Understanding patterns, traits, and symptoms are key to prevention of murders because it allows people to stop them before they happen and see the why.
Why is this person having these thoughts and plans? What happened to them growing up? Did they feel neglected? Were they abused? What are they motivated by? Why do they need to feel in control? Why do they find joy in seeing others suffer? These are all deeply important questions to understand the minds of these people and act accordingly to what their motivations may be.
At the same time, psychological institutions and prisons are flawed. The idea of incarcerating people based on something that has not happened yet can be unhelpful. Many prisons do not have rehabilitation centers, and psychological institutions do not always have the correct funding to care for their patients to the greatest extent. There are ongoing conversations regarding the best ways to get people help while ensuring that there is real growth happening.
Attached is an FBI overview of Serial Murder, including symptoms, debunking myths and misinformation, definitions, and overall important information, as well as information about what it’s like to be in a Psychiatric Hospital and the invention of incarceration:
