Issues common to both models include the risk of reoffending, dangerousness, and treatment goals. These goals generally strive to make the offender acknowledge the offense, take responsibility for his abusive behavior, recognize the factors that lead to his sexual acting-out, and develop alternatives ways of expressing his emotion and meeting his needs. Current psychosocial models define adolescence as a time to assert autonomy, achieve individuation from the family, regulate internal tensions, cope with conflicts, and integrate one's experiences into a coherent personal identity. The adolescent male who was victimized during childhood cannot develop normally; his dangerous sexual behavior is symptomatic of pathological early experiences, unmet needs, and unresolved internal conflicts. Psychodynamic intervention, which uses a combination of exploratory and interpretive procedures, is based on a trusting therapeutic relationship and a non- threatening environment. The social learning theorists see the young sex offender's behavior as the outcome of various environmental, social, and situational factors rather than biological and maturational factors. This model offers some relatively short-term interventions that have been successful with some young offenders. The direct attention paid to cognition as related to abusive behavior is a strength of the model. Its main weakness is the failure to resolve past traumas which have led to emotional conflict and identity crises. 54 references