Because of its many advantages, structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used with increasing frequency in behavioral science, and it is a set of techniques that can be useful in analyzing forensic research data. This article has attempted to demonstrate, in an applied setting, the kinds of issues that are necessary to consider when performing structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses. Although SEM makes somewhat different demands of researchers and their data than other statistical models, it can be a useful technique to help answer some of the questions of interest to forensic scientists. Issues in SEM, including theory, estimation method, sample size and data requirements, identification, and fit indices are discussed. Using a sample of data from men arrested for domestic violence perpetration and court referred to treatment, examples of path analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and full structural models with latent variables are presented. Tables, figures and references