This case study is of a boy, aged twenty-two, who stole a hundred and fifty dollars from his employer, his first offense to which he pleaded guilty. The motive given for the crime was boredom and desire to escape from home.

The author's diagnosis is 'a repetition compulsion mechanism in an anal-erotic of obsessional character with paranoid undercurrents'. The patient has a childhood history of severe retardation in libido development. At thirteen he began to show severe compulsion neurotic symptoms. He is incapable of a real object relationship and is blocked in his feelings. His act of stealing seems to be the expression of his Oedipal conflict which is of a sadistic nature.

Analytical psychotherapy is applied but the prognosis remains questionable.