Mo is a 15 year-old boy with a history of delinquent and aggressive behavior. He has been referred to juvenile court for stealing a television set and has been suspended on several occasions for aggressive outbursts at school. Truancy from school has also been reported and has resulted in at least 3 contacts with juvenile authorities and one "in-house" detention at a juvenile center.
Mo is the third of 11 children. His father deserted the home when Mo was two years old and has not been seen since that time. The younger children were fathered by a man with whom his mother currently lives. Mo does not get along with this man, who is physically abusive when he is drunk, and, as a result, has run away from home on four occasions for periods of up to one week at a time. His older brother is currently serving time in a state prison for armed robbery and assault. Mo has frequently observed instances of fighting between his mother and father as well as between his father and his older sister.
Mo's mother, who looked much older than her age, could not recall any problems during her pregnancy. She did not receive any prenatal care, and Mo was delivered in a hospital emergency room because he "came so fast." The mother reported that Mo's problems began when he was 4 years old and have become progressively worse over the intervening years. He is unmanageable at home and, because he is a large boy, his mother is reticent to discipline him. She states, however, that she rarely disciplined Mo when he was young either. As she states, "All my children are turning out OK anyway so I guess no rules or jobs (household tasks)." She also feels that Mo's problems are due to his association with "the wrong people." In Mo's mind, the source of his problems stem from other people (his mother's boyfriend and teachers who are "out to get him").
The school reports indicated that Mo had academic problems beginning in the early grades. Although his intelligence test scores were only slightly below average, his achievement in all school subjects was poor due to his "motivational" problems. The attendance record indicated a sharp increase in the number of absences during the past two years.
Mo freely admits that he hates school and is looking forward to dropping out, getting a job, and moving away from his family. When asked what kind of job he wanted, he responded that he didn't know but that "something would turn up, it always does." Mo's enjoyment of life seemed to revolve around his friends, some of whom were older than he and had already dropped out of school He and an older boy were assigned the job of stealing a television to furnish the club's meeting room in an abandoned building in the neighborhood.