Is it us?

What's the difference between Sawney Bean, Robert Black, Peter Tobin and Angus Sinclair?

They are all Scottish. But Sawney Bean is a myth, and not exactly urban, since this story may date from the 15th century. He was dreamed up to make the good folk of Scotland glad they lived in nice cosy villages and towns, rather than out in the wild countryside.

The other three are serial killers. And they definitely exist.

Black killed at least 4 children, but probably many more, and his killing years extended from the late 60s on and his area covered Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and probably parts of the European mainland too. No one is sure how many women Tobin killed but he too predated all across the British Isles over a long period. He may have been 'Bible John', the notorious killer of women who haunted the streets of Glasgow in the 60s. Sinclair's is the most amazing case, since everyone involved with him recognised he was a psychopath and a danger to women and children from the age of 15 but our society had no way to deal with him and he was released from prison after murdering a child. He then murdered - it's believed - 7 women in 7 months.

I used to think serial killers were a uniquely American phenomenon, probably because US thriller writers seized on the idea of the serial killer very early on and wrote probably thousands of schlock horror stories of (usually) women being terrorised. It was years before I realised serial killers were also to be found in Russia, France and England, But finding three who have lived in Scotland in my lifetime has come as a bit of a shock.

Three murderous psychopaths in a population of 5 and a half million - well, make that 4 if you want to include Peter Manuel - is that a lot? I have no way of judging. I also know nothing about psychopathy or any other kind of 'abnormal psychology' so I'm not sure what treatment can be provided for people like this, if any.

When I was a teacher I occasionally came up against kids whose behaviour was extreme. I remember one boy of about 13 who had been adopted and showed signs of sexualised behaviour very early on in puberty. His adoptive mother, faced with the worries of the school staff, shrugged and said: 'That's what happens when you adopt - you don't know what you're getting.' I think her attitude was more chilling than anything the boy had ever done but then I don't know what she had been through since adopting him.

Do we in Scotland produce more disturbed individuals than other countries? Do we do enough for them? And do we start treatment early enough? I ask because only last week I saw an item in a newspaper that suggested referrals for children and adolescents to get psychiatric help now take up to 18 months. When I stopped work 6 years ago it was 9 months and we thought that was outrageous. What misery do young people and their families go through when they're waiting for help? How many suicides, attempted suicides, acts of aggression and self-harming, exclusions from school, family breakdowns occur during the waiting period? But, of course, mental health is still the forgotten bit of the health service.