A description of treatment goals and components is followed by a review of relevant empirical studies. The review concludes that well-designed family and group treatment outcome studies are scarce. The authors suggest ways to improve the methodology of future sexual abuse intervention research. Proposed general guidelines for family and group treatment are based on anecdotal and empirical evaluations of treatment outcome. One guideline suggests that clients be assessed initially to determine whether they are appropriate for a group intervention, which requires that they have no major developmental impairment or serious impulse-control problems. A second guideline suggests a thorough evaluation of abuse issues so that topics may be tailored to meet the needs of the individual group members. The evaluation should include standardized measures as well as a detailed psychosocial history. Other guidelines pertain to gender representation in therapeutic teams, the use of trust-building exercises, the selection of topics to be addressed, the use of empirically validated therapeutic procedures, treatment vocabulary for preschool clients, and parallel group treatment for nonoffending parents. 67 references