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An unusual case of wayward behaviour and stealing in a latency boy adopted from infancy is reported. The earliest episode took place at three years following separation from a beloved maid. The object stolen was the ring of the adoptive mother, who was an anxious, withdrawn and preoccupied person. Later at nursery school the child expressed his unhappiness by stealing the teacher's key ring. Episodes thereafter increased in frequency and importance. The analysis was hampered by constant acting out; the parameters by which the analyst restricted this interplay with the environment are described with the subsequent revelation of the child's need for a symbiotic relationship. Preoccupation with inanimate objects brought to the sessions proved to be repeated attempts at recovery from the early trauma and deprivation by the establishment of 'transitional' object relationships, but were used chiefly as a barrier to relationship with the analyst. The choice of the objects stolen was determined less by their symbolic significance than by the child's expectations that they held omnipotent palliation for his helplessness and fear of abandonment. The significant interpretation was that he had to steal to hold on to objects in the world. He needed to manipulate dangerous weapons in order to differentiate between his hostile omnipotent phantasies and outside dangers. Not trusting his hostile feelings towards loved objects, he turned to inanimate things and played make-believe with them as a means of warding off and simultaneously expressing his ambivalence.
The traumatic event of early object loss and his failure to bridge painful experiences with new and better ones were reinforced by the parents' punishment, and a traumatic tonsillectomy. A seduction by an older sister at five years and observations of parental intercourse through a keyhole completed the damage to his narcissism and led to the sexualization of his castration anxiety. Early indications of his attempt