Aichhorn's father had had a career in the banking system of Austria, but it ended with the long depression which began in 1873.

[citation needed] Aichhorn was initially an elementary school teacher in Vienna, and in 1918, following World War I was responsible for setting up educational centers for problem youth in Lower Austria.

Heinz Kohut said of him:[2] “He knew every shade of dialect, every nuance of local habits, depending on regional and class differences.

Aichhorn was known for his intuitive talents in dealing with the antisocial nature of troubled adolescents, and his unorthodox approach in handling their aggressive tendencies.

Aichhorn was an advocate of the idea that there was a distinction between manifest and latent delinquency, and believed that arrested development in youth was a precursor to antisocial behavior.