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This information-rich volume expands current knowledge about sexually violent predators and critiques SVP laws with the goal of fostering improvements in clinical practice and public policy. It offers a finely detailed evidence base on this problematic class of offenders, including the complex interactions of biophysiological and environmental factors that contribute to criminal sexual behavior. Chapters discuss a wide range of assessment issues and instruments central to SVP evaluation, and the possibilities for developing interventions that address individual motivations and behaviors to reduce the risk of reoffending. And throughout, careful attention is paid to ongoing legal, ethical, and logical concerns regarding sexually violent offenders, their treatment and confinement, and their post-confinement placement.

Among the topics covered:

ú Civil commitment of sex offenders.

ú The physiological basis of problematic sexual interests and behaviors.

ú Sexually violent predator evaluations: problems and proposals.

ú Cultural considerations in the assessment of sexually violent predators.

ú Management of sex offenders in community settings.

ú Effective use of an expert in sexually violent predator commitment hearings.

Offering numerous issues for discussion and debate with considerable implications for clinical practice, policy, and the judicial system, Sexually Violent Predators will interest and enlighten forensic psychologists and psychiatrists as well as social workers, policy-makers, and legal professionals.

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Historical overview.- An overview of legislation.- Sexually violent predators legislation: arguments pro and con.- Management of sexually violent predators while in federal custody.- Can sexually violent predators be managed in community settings?.- What happens to civillycommitted sexually violent predators? The state of treatment for incarcerated sex offenders.- Offenders targeting children vs. offenders targeting adults.- Juvenile offenders and sexual violence .- Understanding recidivism in the treatment of sexual offenders.- The psychometrics of risk assessments for the paraphilias.- A general psychometric overview of sexually violent predators criteria: what is the burden? .- Statistical controversies in sexually violent predators assessments.- What constructs ought to be measured when conducting sexually violent predators evaluations? .- Comorbid mental health problems in sexually violent predators.- Cultural considerations in sexually violent predators evaluations.- Sexually violent predators and the DSM-V.- General issues in the prediction of deviant sexual behavior.- The assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders.- The assessment and diagnosis of "mental defects" and psychopathy.- The assessment and diagnosis of the paraphilias.- Problems with reliance on self-report.-Physiological assessment: polygraph and plethysmography.- What should a standard sexually violent predator´s evaluation protocol look like? .- Sexually violent predators and expert testimony.- Understanding the victims.

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William T. O´Donohue, Ph.D. is professor and chairman of the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. For the past 16 years Dr. O´Donohue has directed a free clinic supported by a National Institute of Justice grant which assesses and treats sexually abused children. He regularly testifies as an expert witness in this area and has published numerous books and articles in peer-reviewed journals on adolescent development, child sexual abuse, and forensic psychology. Dr. O´Donohue was an advisor to the DSM-V Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association and is a member of the Nevada Attorney General´s Victims of Crime Subcommittee.

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