The authors offer a critique of the notion of school phobia based on the multifamily group they have set up for adolescents who do not attend school and who resist treatment. They consider that this nosographic entity is both an obstacle to, and, paradoxically, a starting point for the elaboration of psychical conflicts. Their work shows the relevance of the multifamily approach to the treatment of out-of-school students at the middle and high school levels.

Adolescence, 2026, 44, 2, 293-304.