The article briefly reviews the research literature on adolescent sex offenders, discusses data from an inner-city sample of adolescent sex offenders on the amount of aggression they used during the commission of sexual offenses, presents case studies, and describes treatment considerations for the population studied. The literature described two models to address the cause of juvenile sex offender behavior; one based on a cognitive-behavioral dysfunction cycle, and a model that incorporates individual, familial, and social environmental factors. Individual factors that have been identified include lack of social competence skills, prior delinquent behavior, psychopathology, low academic performance, and lack of impulse control. Family characteristics include an unstable or unhealthy home environment, witnessing family violence, and history of abuse. Further research is needed to determine why some abused and neglected youths engage in sexual abuse and violence and others never do, and what factors act to facilitate sexual aggression and what factors act to inoculate a child against engaging in sexual violence. Tables, references