Few clinical case studies have been presented about how children, at various stages of development, cope with the outside world of peers, authorities, neighbors, or strangers. This group presentation gives a developmental outline of the problems children face in the external world and how we, as child and adolescent psychiatrists, can help them. Each presenter discusses one clinical case, consisting of a description of the patient and including a diagnosis and psychological formulation; a statement of the child's “political” problem; a commentary on the meaning of this problem; a description of what intervention(s) the doctor provided; a note of how the problem resolved, and; a more general commentary for child and adolescent practitioners.