This comprehensive text provides an up-to-date review and critique of current theorising about sexual offending. It presents the key ideas underpinning each theory in a clear and accessible manner. Theories are rigorously tested and evaluated, and their merits are examined from both a research and a clinical point of view. Importantly, the emphasis is on providing clear links between theory and practice, and the clinical implications of the different theories and perspectives are explicitly discussed. In addition, a number of new ideas about the aetiology of sexual offending are presented. Theories of Sexual Offending is one of the few books to draw all of the disparate strands of theorising together, and is the only one to clearly link theory to practice. It will be a valuable resource for any professional working with sexual offenders, such as clinical and forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, probation officers and social workers. It will also be of interest to students of forensic and clinical psychology.

Tony Ward is Professor of Clinical Psychology.

Devon Polaschek is Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice Psychology at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Anthony Beech is with the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.