In section 1 of this work the author presents a survey of the literature on the nature, distribution, and psychiatric classification of the sex offender and his offenses, the medicolegal questions involved, and various current methods of prevention and treatment. The style here is frequently telegraphic or cryptic, and the conflicting opinions of various authors are often merely assembled rather than integrated and analyzed. However, since the general field is covered and topically summarized, this section constitutes a valuable reference index to many publications in the recent literature.
Section 2, in which Karpman presents his own theories as to the psychodynamics of sexual offenses, begins with the following sweeping elimination of all other contributions: "Conventional psychiatry offers but little by the way of explaining the meaning of sexual offenses, their pathology and their treatment; not even clues. Other disciplines interested in the problem, such as psychology, sociology and so on,