Parental Neglect as a Developmental Pathway to Conduct Disorder

Parental neglect is an under-recognised risk factor for Conduct Disorder (CD), formerly termed juvenile delinquency, in Indian adolescents. While physical abuse receives legal and clinical attention, emotional and supervisory neglect remains normalised in middle-class homes. This paper examines neglect → CD pathways using qualitative case vignettes drawn from 15 years of school counselling practice involving 2,500+ children in a CBSE setting. Composite cases illustrate three neglect subtypes: emotional neglect via institutionalisation, supervisory neglect leading to gang affiliation, and conflict neglect in separated families. Data show that chronic absence of attuned adult supervision correlates with DSM-5-TR CD criteria, including aggression, deceitfulness, rule violations, and destruction of property. Findings align with Bruce Perry’s neurodevelopmental model, where neglect disrupts cortical development and places the brain in persistent alarm states, and Bowlby’s attachment theory, where peer groups serve as substitute attachment figures in the absence of parental availability. School-based interventions, including daily atonement protocols, reduced conduct symptoms by 70% without punitive measures. This study argues that India’s JJ Act and NEP 2020 must expand screening from “abuse” to “absence.” Implications for teacher training and parent education are discussed.