Three groups of men were compared: 42 sex offenders, 26 nonsex offenders, and 42 men from a community control group. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subscales for alienation and the K scale, Bernstein and Putnam's dissociation scale, and Ried and Ware's multidimensional locus of control measure were combined and administered to the three groups. The sex offenders were found to be more dissociated than the other two groups, more external on the overall measure of locus of control, and more external than the community group on the subscale of self-control. The sex offenders were found to be more alienated than the other two groups. Study findings support the clinical observation that a high percentage of these individuals have been severely abused as children. They have dealt with this abuse through a dissociative defense that tends to facilitate inappropriate sexual acting out throughout their lives. Balanced treatment should focus not only on what the offender has done but also on what was done to the offender. Although accountability and the assumption of responsibility should be the cornerstone of any treatment approach, it is unjust to hold the offender accountable for what he has done and, on the other hand, to ignore the offender's own abuse. 3 tables and 59 references