Reviews the law and law reforms, incidence of sexual offenses, national survey studies, and treatment. Examples of general trends in German society during the past 2 decades include: (1) the emphasis on victimology in criminology; and (2) the refinement of research on predicting dangerousness and violence; (3) the increasing interest in sexual offenses nourished by ambivalent motives; (4) the skepticism as to the effectiveness of treatment of sexual offenders; and (5) the revival of the treatment idea and reinforced investments in treatment and treatment research. A recent research project on psychotherapy process research at the Department of Psychotherapy at Ulm University is also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)