The delinquent behavior of a seventeen-year-old girl—aggressiveness and defiance, neglect of personal appearance, refusal to work, disappearance from home for long periods of time, sexual activities—was based on a complete lack of libidinal satisfactions throughout childhood. Her parents were divorced when she was three years old and her unloving, preoccupied mother remarried a man with a younger daughter when she was seven years old. Her resultant hostilitiy created a deep-seated sense of guilt and a need for punishment.

Case work interviews with the psychoanalytically understanding author showed the patient that the pattern of her delinquent behavior consisted in unsuccessful attempts at compensating for her libidinal frustrations and in an unconscious need for punishment. A careful handling of this need, together with foster home placement, proved successful.