Tim Doolan, Adam Horovitz, is released from juvenile detention and leaves with his mother, Felicia Celia Weston, and her new husband, Barton Marks Graham Beckel, arriving at Valley Acres, a psychiatric facility for troubled youth. Tim's stubborn refusal to fit in quickly tests the patience of the staff, and his bouts of defiance lead to restraints by the orderlies as he tries to push past the boundaries of the institution.
Tim’s memories haunt him: a chaotic night from the previous month when he, his half-brother Andy, and their gang, the D.A.B.’s, clashed with rivals from the 10th St. Gang. Afterward, Tim spends the night with Cheryl Anderson Amy Locane, the girlfriend of his friend Link, and Cheryl’s impulsive anger pushes her mother’s convertible into their swimming pool. The next morning, Tim’s abusive estranged father Richard Doolan Graham Beckel arrives at the police station with a gun and narcotics he found in Tim’s room. With Felicia away on a honeymoon, and Richard unwilling to watch over Tim, a judge orders him to juvenile detention until she returns.
Back at Valley Acres, Dr. Charles Loftis Donald Sutherland meets Tim and recognizes that the young man doesn’t deserve to be there, even as Tim remains effectively confined. Tim starts attending group sessions with others, including Cheryl, who apologizes for getting him into trouble. Loftis believes she should stay, but Cheryl is released nonetheless. Hoping to reunite with Cheryl, Tim resolves to be on his best behavior to earn a release, and he soon gains off-ground privileges.
Tim’s half-brother Andy arrives to take him out for a day, and Tim goes to Felicia’s house to find Barton has turned Tim’s old bedroom into an office. He then visits Cheryl, who is living alone after her mother sold the family home, and discovers she has turned to drugs. Determined to help, Tim retrieves Loftis’s address and brings Cheryl in for help, though Loftis, unhappy about the call, accuses Tim of going AWOL and reports him. Tim returns to the facility on his own, but the friction leaves him feeling betrayed. He vandalizes the walls with graffiti, and Loftis arrives to help him channel that energy, encouraging Tim to fight through the surge of emotion and then smoothing things over by painting over the damage.
Andy calls Tim, furious that he missed a gang fight, and pressures him to join a rematch. En route to the planned drive-by on the rival gang, Tim initially resists, but Andy coaxes him into pointing his gun at the rival leader. As they speed away, Tim fires into the ground instead; a collision occurs, and Tim escapes while Andy drives off in a panic. He searches for Andy at Richard Doolan’s house and finally finds a moment of reconciliation between father and son. Andy arrives outside with Cheryl, and Tim, at gunpoint, fires shots near his brother’s head, scaring him.
Tim flees to Loftis’s house, where Loftis—drunk and recently separated from his wife—tells him to leave. The young man falls asleep in a spare room, and the next morning asks Loftis to take him in again. Felicia has already inquired about him, and Loftis drives Tim back to Felicia’s home, vowing that Tim will ultimately never return to Valley Acres.
