The three traditional theoretical approaches (psychodynamic, behavioral, and biological) currently receive less attention than ideas based on research findings based on data rather than theory. In addition to general agreement regarding multiple etiological factors, agreement also appears to exist regarding an explanatory framework involving two kinds of factors: predispositions and triggering factors. Predispositions presumably develop over a number of years, could be a product of childhood environment, and are largely cognitive in nature. Triggering factors can be personal, including alcohol, psychosis, or sexual needs; environmental, including stress, stimuli related to a particular location, of the availability of a victim; or both. The literature also suggests that propensity towards violence or aggression is a characteristic that is separate from the sexual aspects of a disorder. In addition, the importance of cognitive factors in the development and maintenance of sexually deviant behavior has been significantly underestimated. Moreover, some sexually deviant behaviors are episodic, while others usually reflect a lifestyle. However, the current theory and supporting data do not provide an adequate basis for the confident assessment of "propensity" toward sexually deviant behavior, either in general or for a particular behavior.