A case is presented of a boy who ran away from a home consisting of a mother, a stepfather and a sister. His truancy was an identification with the asocial behaviour of his father and the goal towards which he ran was a representation of his own father. At the same time, he punished his mother for loving his stepfather. A further point is made that the world represented the mother's sexual organ, which the patient felt impelled to investigate symbolically through his pointless truancies. From the technical point of view, it is stressed that a quick positive transference is essential for good therapeutic results. Though analytic technique is desirable, it should be modified to meet the exigencies which an adolescent court-problem presents. A plea is made for a dynamic psychiatric approach to the runaway and an indictment is offered of still too common police methods.