Sex offenders show highly variable levels of acceptance or denial of their offenses. Some admit the full extent of their actions; some admit to only some of the charged offenses; and others adamantly deny having committed any part of the offense. Some accept responsibility for their acts, while others show varying levels of blame directed towards the victim or blame their life circumstances. These differences can affect the pace of progress in treatment, or even if the offender will seek and be accepted into treatment. However, denial has not been shown to have any impact on risk assessment. This is somewhat counter-intuitive, and in the past many professionals who work with sex offenders believed that those in denial were at greater risk to re-offend. Once we began to see the results of large-scale research studies designed to identify factors that can predict the risk of recidivism, it became clear that denial is not a predictor. The reason for this is not yet entirely clear, probably because offenders who deny do so for diverse reasons. Other research has shown that offenders in denial who are offered the opportunity to attend specialized treatment and who do successfully complete the treatment are at much lower risk of re-offending than is the case for offenders in denial who do not complete treatment.