Antoine Doinel is a 14-year-old boy who was—up until several weeks

ago—attending an all-boys high school in Paris. He is a French speaking

Caucasian, of average height and weight, and of normal stature for his age.

He presents himself casually and neatly dressed, favoring a turtleneck

sweater and dark slacks. He is well groomed with neatly combed short hair

and appears to maintain proper hygiene. He has no apparent physical

disabilities. He appears rather lackadaisical and quiet in school settings, and

walks rather lethargically with head held down while in the presence of

school authority figures, i.e., teachers and administrators. He also speaks in

a low voice with a defensive intonation as though he is constantly wary that

he may have done something “wrong.” His demeanor at these times

suggests a mood of mild depression. However, he assumes a more animated

disposition around family and friends, and maintains friendships with three

or four classmates outside of school. He resides with his mother, Gilberte,

age 36 and his stepfather, Julien, age 43. Their residence is a modest two-

bedroom apartment in a working-class neighborhood in Paris. Both parents

work full-time. His mother works as a secretary, and his father works for an

industrial organization in the capacity of a low-level manager. Their

lifestyle and economic level would be labeled “lower middle class.” Their
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apartment is small, plain, and rather crowded. The father has alluded to his

wish to find larger living quarters, but seems stymied for lack of income.

Antoine has little privacy in his home, for, although he has his own

bedroom, his parents must walk through it from the apartment entrance to

get to their own bedroom.

Gilberte Doinel, Antoine’s mother, was not married at the time of his

conception nor did she marry Antoine’s biological father. She was

approximately 22-years-old at the time of his birth. Interview records

indicate that Ms. Doinel wanted to abort Antoine, but was prevented by her

mother, Antoine’s grandmother. Antoine lived with his grandmother until

the age of eight, when he reported that she was “too old” to take care of him.

At that time, Antoine returned to the care of his mother and the mother’s

husband, Julien Doinel, who became Antoine’s stepfather (although for

several years, Antoine believed this man to be his natural father). Antoine

now claims not to have ever met his biological father. When Antoine

resided with his grandmother, he reports that he stole money from her, but

justifies this behavior by claiming that she had “plenty of money” and did

not need it all. He also expressed the fact that his mother behaved rather

coldly toward him once he began to reside with her. This may be attributed

to her resentment at having to raise a child she did not want. Antoine stated
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he overheard his mother's irritation about his domestic status, particularly

regarding during the summer months, and was quite vocal in her desire for

Antoine to go to summer camp.

It appears that there were no major traumas (other than possible

trauma due to separation from and later return to his mother) from ages 0 to

14, although it appears that his home life is marked by tension between his

parents. This is manifested primarily in his mother’s criticism of the father

for not having a more lucrative position that are responded to by the father's

retorts that Ms. Doinel spends too much money on needless things. At one

point, the father predicted a promotion at work, but the mother dismissed

this as simply a pipedream. Antoine claims to have heard this conversation

from his room, and reacted anxiously to the discussion.

Antoine’s mother exhibits some mild narcissistic behaviors. She

frequently grooms herself in a mirror, and seems rather self-involved with

her appearance. She behaves coolly toward Antoine, and is rather a

disciplinarian regarding his duties. She regularly orders him to go shopping

and to take out the garbage, and often ends her demands with the phrase

“right away!” This does not necessarily appear to depart from normal

parental guidance, but her assertiveness contrasts with the easy-going

manner of Antoine’s father, who regularly provides him with extra money,
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and attempts to make light of the mother’s strict demeanor. Despite mixed

messages from his mother, Antoine displays behavior that shows he is trying

to please her. He follows all her instructions, and does not oppose doing any

of the chores she demands of him.

However, Antoine frequently steals from his parents. He takes money

from a “hiding” place and stole a Michelin Travel Guide. The latter theft

appears rather anomalous, but Antoine eventually ran away from home and

stayed away for at least 24-hours. He may have stolen the guidebook as a

means of planning an escape to another city or part of town.

Antoine reports a “history” of problems in school. He exhibits

oppositional behavior by scrawling graffiti in the classroom behind the

teacher’s back. He makes “rabbit ears” with his fingers behind the teacher’s

head. He is often truant and spends his days away from school with his

friends, primarily going to the movies, amusement parks, and arcades, where

he enjoys playing pinball. He is able to afford these entertainments,

apparently, because his two close friends regularly steal money from their

parents as well. It appears that the focus of conversation between him and

his friends is on stealing, playing “hooky,” and complaining about teachers.

One example of their complicit behavior is that a fellow classmate helped

Antoine forge an absent-from-school note. He does not display any guilt

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about his truancy. He acts impulsively, and seems only dimly aware of the

potential repercussions of his actions.

Although Antoine seems to be uninterested in his studies, he admires

the writer H. Balzac, reads this author regularly, and has created a small

“shrine” to the author in his bedroom—an action that suggests originality

and creativity. Actively reading Balzac also indicates a reading-level at

least as high if not higher than average for his age, intelligence, and a

curiosity about intellectual matters so long as they have personal meaning.

His originality and creativity seem to manifest themselves oppositionally in

his school antics. He cleverly “entertains” the other students with his

defiance of authority. This may indicate that Antoine does not feel

challenged at school, or that he finds it difficult to focus on things he is not

interested in: this may indicate the presence of ADHD.

The faculty at Antoine’s school appears dissatisfied with his

schoolwork and this is evident by their sarcasm toward his test performance

and indifferent demeanor. Antoine may be characterized as a sensitive,

intelligent boy, and claims to resent what he claims to be hypocrisy among

his teachers. Antoine claims that while the faculty demands that the students

learn their lessons, the teachers appear indifferent to the subjects they teach.
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This perceived hypocrisy coincides with the theme of betrayal Antoine

claims to endure at home.

Antoine had a recent shock when six months ago—while playing

hooky from school with some classmates--encountered his mother in the

street, kissing a man who was not his stepfather. He states he was disturbed

by the encounter, but dismissed it by saying to his friend that he did not have

to worry about being “told on.” Antoine may be in denial regarding his

mother’s behavior and its presumptive effect upon his stepfather. Antoine

also expresses his distress when observing his mother telling his stepfather

than she comes home late from work or has to work on weekends owing to

her heavy workload. Antoine clearly perceives this as lying, and this may

have an impact upon his own attitude toward lying. The mother is clearly

not a good role model regarding this area of his socialization.

The effect of Ms. Doinel’s prevaricating was exacerbated when she

had a “bedside chat” with Antoine, telling him that being honest was an

important value. This has likely led to confusion on Antoine's part because

his knowledge of the mother’s "secret" affair may have resulted in a sense of

betrayal, and likely revives and exacerbates feelings of betrayal owing to his

early separation from his family. Antoine may be blaming himself for this

“betrayal,” and his acting out via truancy, running away from home, and
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general misconduct in school may be a way of expressing his anger. This

theme of betrayal seems to exist in Antoine’s life in other domains as well.

In school, Antoine submitted a selection from Balzac for a homework

assignment in his literature class, and was castigated by the teacher for

plagiarism. Antoine has stated that he did not understand that he had done

something “academically dishonest,” but rather was expressing his love and

presenting homage to his favorite author. This suggests that Antoine's

interior life and its acting out is so motivated by emotion that he does not

follow or consider relevant instructions from authority figures. The

plagiarism incident resulted in the school administration expelling him. This

punishment was aggravated by the response from Antoine's stepfather, who

while typically understanding of Antoine, became furious with him.

This falling out with his stepfather proved the impetus for Antoine's

decision to run away from home, and to stay at the home of a friend.

Antoine voiced anger, betrayal, and disappointment over feeling unwanted,

and expressed his desire to stay away from home for “a long time.”

Residing at his friend's home did not discernibly change his behavior. He

and his friend soon plotted to steal a typewriter from the office of his friend's

father and sell it. He succeeded in stealing the equipment. However, he was

unable to sell it, at which point he tried surreptitiously to return it to the

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office from which it had been stolen. At that point, he was caught by a

custodian and held until his stepfather retrieved him. Antoine claims to have

felt profound humiliation when his stepfather came, and, holding Antoine

firmly by the neck, led him away through the streets toward their home.

Antoine stated he felt very self-conscious and ashamed at witnessing the

stares among the passersby. Although Antoine's stepfather is a caring and

forgiving caregiver, this act may have reinforced Antoine's belief that he was

a pariah in society: a theme that seems to have begun and threaded its way

since his earliest memories.

It was at this point that Antoine became actively involved in the

Division of Family and Youth Services. Mr. Doinel brought Antoine to the

police where he was charged with vagrancy and theft. After consultation

with a law enforcement official, Mr. Doinel consented to have Antoine sent

to a juvenile detention center. The attending psychologist, after interviewing

Antoine, decided it would be appropriate to place him with the regular

population, where he would be placed under strict supervision and required

to conform to a regimented program of vocational, social, and recreational

activities.

Antoine's mother visited him at the reformatory. However, the benefit

to Antoine of her visit is questionable. During a private meeting together,

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Antoine stated that his mother declared her love for him while claiming that

his stepfather had no emotional investment or interest in him. Ironically, it

seems that in Antoine's eyes, his stepfather—who up until the theft and

incarceration had expressed affection for him--now appeared to have

abandoned him. If this is indeed Antoine's perception, it may be

perpetuating and worsening the themes of abandonment and contradictory

emotional messages that afflict Antoine.

A final assessment concludes that themes of betrayal, hypocrisy

among authority figures, and feelings of being an outcast make Antoine a

prisoner of his environment and his emotions. He figuratively and literally

feels as though he has no place to turn. It may be that these ideations

prompted Antoine to run away from the reformatory, a sojourn that seemed

random and without destination. Antoine acknowledged that he knew what

he was running away from but did not have a concrete objective to which he

was seeking shelter. When he was apprehended, Antoine was standing by

the beach in November. He did not so much as acknowledge us as we

confronted him. Instead, he simply stared out at the water. With a bit of

coaxing, he agreed to accompany us. Perhaps when Antoine regarded the

sea and the anonymous tide, he understood he had reached a psychological

and physical barrier he would not overcome by himself.

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A treatment plan that would be appropriate for Antoine at this point in

his life will be a challenging one. However, owing to his intelligence, his

ability to “read” others, and his openness to new ideas and experiences, the

prognosis for Antoine is promising.