ABSTRACT
Myths about the people who abuse children, and how they do it, are legion. Most common are beliefs that offenders can be stereotyped as an isolated group of sick individual men; or that sex abuse is restricted to single incidents of aberrant behaviour by otherwise ordinary men; or that it is caused by family problems. The aim of this chapter is to draw together evidence to show that the reality is quite different, and to demonstrate that accurate knowledge about offenders helps society both protect children and provide effective intervention programmes for their abusers.
