ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises the aetiological explanation of sexual offending behaviour in the client group and consider the evidence base for effective treatment programmes and risk assessment strategies. In relation to sexual offending, approaches to understanding the offence process should be drawn from the work of Ward and Hudson, who suggest it is possible to classify offenders according to one of different routes to offending. Lindsay postulated a revised hypothesis arguing that although sex offenders with intellectual development disabilities (IDD) may have a higher level of sexual knowledge and more liberal sexual attitudes than non-offenders, their sexual knowledge remains at a stage at which it is considerably poorer than that required by men with no IDD. Compared with mainstream sexual offenders, relatively little is known of the risk factors predictive of sexual offence recidivism in sexual offenders with IDD. The need for competent assessment and treatment of people with IDD who commit inappropriate sexual behaviours (ISBs) has never been greater.
