Classifying Child Abusers: Its Relevance to Theory and Clinical Practice

A major problem in the development of an adequate theory of the sexual offence process is the heterogeneity of offenders. This lack of a clear understanding of both why and how people sexually offend against children continues to hinder the development of effective methods of intervention for these individuals. The aim of this article is to critically review some of the approaches that have been adopted in an attempt to provide a reliable and valid classification system for child molesters and to consider the impact that such systems have had on the structuring of interventions to meet the differing needs of this client group.