An authoritative and in-depth treatment of the latest research into the criminal careers of sex offenders, providing background and investigating the policies used to combat one of society’s most intractable public issues. Features chapters based on original research from the most prominent scholars in the field of sex offender and criminal career research Deals with the entire criminal careers of sex offenders from youth to adulthood Illustrates the significance of the criminal career approach for theory, treatment, research, and policy regarding sex offenders Covers a wider breadth of topics than existing texts and uses data from various studies and countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Netherlands Features an introductory chapter charting the origins of the criminal career perspective as well as the history of sex offender research, pinpointing the most important research questions and current debates in both fields