frequent accidents (poop)

My step-son is 11 years old, since he was a todler he has had a problem of frequently having accidents (poop) in his pants.  I am unsure exactly how often because I may not notice it somedays, but he has accidents approximately 7 out of 10 days.

Me and My wife have been married and living together (the three of us) for a year, however they tell me this is the same thing that has been happening forever.  I will try to explain in detail what I have observed and what my wife and her son have told me about it:

My wife says that he will hold it sometimes for a long time (like when in public), and he tells me that he does not have accidents in school/public places because he gets nervous, and he has the accidents usually when he's home. he says he cannot control it when it happens.  he says it doesn't matter if he goes to the bathroom right when he gets home, it will still happen.

before I met my wife, they had tried going to doctors and psychologists for him to talk to, and they said it didn't help.

could this be "encopresis"? or something else?  could it be stress/anxiety related?  My wife says it happens a lot when she's away from him (e.g. she's at work and he's home with me, or home alone).

please ask more questions if you need more info

or if you have any ideas of what the problem is, or any suggestions on solutions, it would be much appreciated

[distressed_mom]

My oldest (18) had something similar happen when he was just starting school.  We went every week to the Dr for over a year, tried reward system and so forth.  After almost 2 years it was diagnosed as encopresis by a specialist and we began the long task of cleaning out and retraining the bowels and surrounding muscles.  One of the give aways is the smell.  As the bowels hold the waste for a much longer period of time, it smells very overpowering and quite rancid.  We ended up having to move and change schools since children can be very cruel and my son wasn't spoken to other than names and insults.  If it is encopresis, don't expect it to be cured quickly.  It took almost as long to rectify it as it did to diagnose.  He still has a tendancy to constipate and must watch the frequency and consistancy of his bowel movements.  One of the things suggested was to feed him corn on the cob and time how long it took to go through his system.  You should see some corn within 24 hours and if not, then he is backed up - even if he seems to have regular or frequent movements.  Good Luck!  It was tough on our family before it was diagnosed.