II: Case Presentation of a Young Sexual Delinquent*

The twenty-one year old boy whom I wish to describe this evening exemplifies a type of psychology which characterizes a large group of American delinquents and criminals. Alexander calls it the “tough on the outside, soft on the inside” type. The meaning of this appellation will become clear, I hope, from the following description of the patient.

This boy, H., referred for psychoanalytic treatment while under indictment for burglary, was the youngest son of a well-to-do middle class family. He was attractive, of superior intelligence, and in excellent condition physically. His father held a responsible position in a large manufacturing establishment. His brother, two years older, was working. His sister, six years older, was married. The mother took care of the home which was comfortably appointed and desirably located. The family history was psychiatrically negative on the father's side, but there were a few suicides and nervous breakdown on the maternal genealogic branch. So far as was determined, the patient's developmental history was normal and uneventful, throughout the pregnancy and early years, with two notable exceptions, finickiness about food and temper tantrums. He was weaned satisfactorily at five months. The mother thinks the nurse spoiled him. He was always stubborn about just what and when he would eat. As to the tantrums he would sit on the ground in one until picked up and carried by his mother. This tantrum behavior began at the age of eight months and lasted until H. was about five years old. In contrast to this infantile behavior was an almost compulsive desire to be stronger than his brother—a fact which gives a clue to H.'s whole impulse-ridden character. The exaggerated competitive demand to be strong, later to be tough, was a reaction against his exaggerated dependence.

H.'s major difficulties began at about the time he entered high school, and made his school record a series of dismissals. He was