ABSTRACT
The use of the DSM-5 categories provides some standardization for clinicians, especially those who must bill insurance companies based upon their codes. However, sexual behaviors are so varied that being diagnosed a sexual offender carries significant and sometimes life-long consequences. For sexual offenders, as indeed for many human traits and behaviors, this could not be farther from the truth. A situational offender, like Lee, usually prefers adult female or male sexual companionship and only offends when placed into a situation in which he lives with, a young child whom he knows well. A predatory offender preys upon children he does not live with, does not know intimately, or perhaps does not know at all. In addition, the characterization of situational vs. predatory offender has stood the test of time and, offers general guidelines when considering both the risk an offender presents to the community and whether he (or she) can be treated and with what assurance of success.
