There has been a growing belief within the field that effective treatment of juvenile sex offenders should include some level of parental and family involvement. Unfortunately, except for a study that used multisystemic therapy (Bourdin, Henggeler, Blaske, and Stein, 1990), randomized, controlled research on treatment effectiveness with JSOs is lacking in the JSO treatment field. There are also commonly used arguments against including parents in JSO treatment. These include the injection of a distraction from the JSOs taking responsibility for his/her abusive sexual history, parental incompetence in providing a therapeutic environment, family chaos that complicates individual therapy with JSOs, parental dominance of treatment sessions, parental discomfort in discussing sexual issues, the indirectness of parents as the cause of JSOs deviance, and the complexity of juvenile/family relationships. This article counters each of these arguments with reasons why the involvement of parents in treatment is worth the challenges involved. The overarching argument is that JSOs must be understood within the development and systemic context in which they live. The skills taught to both the JSOs and their parents compose the foundation of a relevant and effective relapse prevention plan, and these same skills can be generalized to address other dynamic risk factors as they are identified in treatment. A case example is provided. 33 references