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In, To Kill a Mockingbird, what is the story behind Arthur "Boo" Radley?

Boo Radley is supposed to have attacked his father with scissors.  He is a mystery to the town--at least the younger community--because they've never seen him.  He chooses to stay indoors and not commune with the neighbors.  For this reason, many strange stories float around about him, the children dare one another to run up and touch his porch, and they role play the stories they have heard about him without really knowing what is and what isn't true.

In addition to the rumors about Boo Radley, Lee does provide the story behind Boo's becoming a recluse.  As a teenager, he and some other boys were fooling around one night, stole a car, and drove it around backwards.  They were caught, and the harsh Mr. Radley did not want his son going to an "institutional" school (rather like a juvenile detention center); so he promised to take care of the situation himself.  He confined Boo to the house, and it seems that that type of isolation severely affected Boo, causing him not to want to go out into society.  Lee gives the impression that Boo's brother Nathan is no less harsh than his father and perhaps encourages Boo's isolation just as much as his dad did.