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This paper will discuss the findings of a study that has been conducted to explore the challenges of women with physical disabilities (OKU) in entrepreneurship. The scope of the exploration involves the start-up phase of the business which requires the informant to tell the experience of facing initial challenges in the business. The study was designed using a fully qualitative approach with data collection using the Focus Group Discussion method. The study location involves four Malaysian zones, namely the North, East, Central and South zones. A total of 34 physically disabled women who are traders were selected to be interviewed. The selection of informants was made purposefully by choosing the recipients of the Malaysian Social Welfare Department's launch grant. The thematic analysis carried out shows that there are three main challenges faced by informants during the phase of starting a business, namely: i- lack of access to information, ii- implications of physical disability and iii- dual role challenges. The results of the study give implications to stakeholders' efforts to improve the achievement of empowering women with physical disabilities in starting a business. In addition, this paper also discusses the scientific justification for the proposal for the construction of the Economic Empowerment Model (Entrepreneurship) for Physically Disabled Women as an output of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents currently face various challenges such as school dropout, deviant behaviour, communication and conflict with family and negative exposure to media social. Apart from that, adolescents are also influenced by family and school environment and relationship with peer groups during their developmental process. Negative environment and peer influence may cause adolescents to be involved in drug abuse and social deviance. Therefore, the objectives of this article are to: (1) identify the relationship between social support, general mental health, vulnerability of involvement in drug addiction and social deviance, (2) assess the roles of social support and general mental health as predictors towards vulnerability of involvement in drug addiction, and (3) assess the roles of social support and general mental health as predictors towards social deviance. This study employed a survey design by distributing questionnaires to 604 adolescents in areas identified by the National Anti-Drug Agency as having high drug statistics. The questionnaire comprised of items measuring social support, general mental health, vulnerability of involvement in drug addiction and social deviance. Results showed that there were negative and significant correlations between social support, general mental health, vulnerability of involvement in drug addiction and social deviance. Social support and general mental health were also found to significantly predict vulnerability of involvement in drug addiction. Findings of this study imply the importance of increasing the role of protective factors in combating the problem of drug abuse among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social integration is an important aspect to prevent young offenders from being involved in criminal activities and motivates them to lead a positive lifestyle. Therefore, this article discusses the influence of self-concept, sense of community and social support towards social integration among young offenders in Malaysia. Data were collected using a quantitative approach based on cross-sectional survey design among 306 young offenders undergoing Community Service Order initiated by the Department of Social Welfare. The resultant data were analysed using IBM for SPSS version 23.0. A majority of respondents who took part in this study consisted of male young offenders aged 20 years old, single in marital status, completed educational level up to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), were unemployed and were involved in theft. The findings via multiple regression analysis indicate that social support (ß = 0.440, p < 0.01) is the main factor that contributes to social integration among young offenders. As an overall impact, the study's implications to concerned parties include calls to improve the existing module and rehabilitation programme in order to help young offenders succeed in the process of social integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is prepared to identify the relationship between self-concept and sense of community with social support among young offenders in Malaysia. Data was collected using a quantitative approach among 306 young offenders undergoing Community Service Order initiated by the Social Welfare Department. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Sosial Sciences (SPSS) software. The result shows that majority of respondents who took part in this study consisted of male young offenders (100%) aged 20 years old (36.3), single in marital status (94.4%), completed educational level up to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (52.1%), and unemployed (49.7%). The results of the correlation analysis unveiled that there is a significant relationship between self-concept (r = .699, p <0.01) and sense of community (r = .606, p <0.01) with social support. As an overall impact, the study provided implications to the concerned parties such as Social Welfare Department to improvise the existing rehabilitation module by giving emphasis on aspects such as self-concept, sense of community, and social support in order to restore the social functioning of the young offenders in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is a period of critical development with many changes and challenges during the transition to adulthood. For adolescents in care homes, their well-being during these developmental periods often affected. This study used a quantitative approach through questionnare-based survey, self-administered by the respondents. A total of 109 adolescents from three (3) care homes of JKM accomplished the Children and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS), Resilience Scale and Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children (PWI-SC) scale. The present study aims to examine social support, resilience and subjective well-being of adolescents in care homes of Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM). Adolescents in the care homes reported having a moderate level of social support, resilience and subjective well-being. The findings may be used to inform policy on program and interventions targeting adolescents in care homes. Efforts to improve social support, resilience and the well-being of adolescents are also suggested by enhancing the quality of care, as well as upskilling the competency and professionalism of the social workers in care homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, adolescents not only face challenges of self-development, but are also affected by the change in family environment due to the advancement in technology and world globalisation. Along with the increasing number of female adolescents involved with inappropriate behaviours brings to light the question on how fully functional is the families of these adolescents. In an attempt to answer this, a qualitative approach in the form of a case study was carried out. The aim this study is to find out how female delinquents' families function. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants of this study which consisted of five female adolescent delinquents, aged 13 to 18 years who have been referred to the Social Welfare Department by their parents due to various behavioural problems. The findings of this study which was revealed through interview sessions and document analysis, shows that there are (i) family socio-economic status; (ii) negative parenting; and (iii) no role model in the family. In conclusion, female delinquents do not only come from dysfunctional families, but they are also facing the challenges of an unsafe environment and problems with adjusting themselves in the family. Thus, several prevention measures such as family based intervention, empowerment and self capacity building suggested. Dysfunctional families have been discussed in intervention program to enhance female adolescents' productivity and to aid them towards a more prosperous family environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stigma is a process that befalls when several crucial elements such as stereotyping, labeling, status loss, separation and discrimination co-occur together in a stressful situation which causes negative impacts on young offender's interactions with the community members. Therefore young offenders are required to acquire a higher level of self-concept, sense of community, social support and social integration in order to adapt themselves in a community to avoid social isolation due to their criminal history. Thus, this article discusses the level of self-concept, sense of community, social support and social integration among young offenders in Malaysia. Data is collected using a quantitative approach based on cross-section survey design among 306 young offenders undergoing Community Service Order (CSO) initiated by the Social Welfare Department. The resultant data were analysed descriptively using IMB for SPSS version 23.0. The result indicates that the majority of young offenders demonstrated a moderate level of self-concept (72.9%), sense of community (55.2%), social support (77.5%) and social integration (67.3%). As an overall impact, the study provided implications to the concerned parties to formulate and contrive the module and rehabilitation programme in order to improvise the level of self-concept, sense of community, social support and social integration among young offenders in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living with a disabled person can bring significant effects to the entire family members especially for parents, siblings and next of kin because they need to undergo a peculiar experience which can influence different aspect of family functioning. Thus, this article examines coping strategies of mothers who take care of their child with Cerebral Palsy disability. Data is collected using a qualitative approach among six mothers who have a child with Cerebral Palsy disability. In-depth interview was conducted to gather information regarding informants' coping strategies in taking care of their children. All the informants who took part in this study were mothers in the age range between 33 to 52 years old with an average income rate between RM1,200 to RM3,000 and have two to three children. The findings also indicate that informants' practiced four types of coping strategies namely; (i) self-control, (ii) social support, (iii) accepting responsibilities and (iv) solving problems with a proper planning in overcoming stress and crisis in their life. As an overall impact, the study provided implications to the concerned parties to empower and emancipate mothers by providing effective psychological counselling to overcome challenges in taking care of their disabled child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statutory rape is also known as underage rape, when a male has sex with an under 16 female, with or without her will. There is a lack of numbers in research conducted focusing on teenagers statutory rape victims' acceptance of themselves and victims' acceptance of statutory rapist. This research aims to explore victims' acceptance of self-status after being raped. Aspect of acceptance was identified through i) interpretation about pre-marital sex, ii) acceptance towards self-status as a victim of statutory rape, and iv) acceptance towards the statutory rapist. This research used qualitative methodology with structured interview as a method in collecting data. Six teenagers in Pertubuhan Kebajikan Darul Islah Selangor (PERKID) were chosen purposely as informants. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The research found that most of the victims were willing of the sex, but then the victims secluded themselves, feared the possibility of being pregnant, were mad at themselves, and involved in more social problems such as smoking and alcohol intake. In the data of victims' acceptance towards the statutory rapist, two main themes was produced which are i) informants accepted the rapists because of love, and ii) for those who did not accept the rapists, was because they lost faith in the rapist whom the victims considered as their own family. This research implicates the importance of a more holistic intervention delivered to the victims of statutory rape. High acceptance towards love-based relationships might encourage the teenagers to get involved again. More emphasis needs to be given in changing the victims' perceptions towards legally unacceptable statutory relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive communication serves as an important basis within a strong marriage. Thus, this study aims to explore the types of positive communication which are practiced by married Malays in Lembah Klang. Grounded theory and qualitative approach were applied to understand the positive communication patterns. Data were gained from semi structured interviews that were carried out among 18 married Malay indivudals living in 10 developing locations within lembah Klang. Informants were chosen according to determined criterias which were married for the first time, and still with married, living in one house and at least married for one year. Findings indicated that informants practiced two types of communication which are face-to-face communication and technology communication. Face-to-face communication was found to be applied to increase intimacy between spouses which includes humor, positive communication and conflict resolution. Technology communication was applied for married individuals to express love, connect intimately, sharing of knowledge and for conflict resolution. Informants also reported that positive communication increased marital satisfaction. Overall, this study gives implication to the field of develoopmental psychology which focuses on marital issues besides the West. This study also gives an implication practically to the helping profesions such as counsellors, social workers, and therapists working with married couples. Future studies are suggested to explore more on mariage within non Western cultures in order to increase the quality of married copuples within non Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of child injuries in home based child daycare often creates anxiety and dilemma for working parents. Although the government has set the need for registration by home-based child daycare if the number of children is over four children, there are still many unlicensed caregivers and carry out child-rearing operations. This qualitative research study with a single case design aims to explore safe environment practices among unlicensed home based child daycare. An in-depth interview method using semi structure questionnaire has been used in research data collection. Non-participants' observation also used as triangulation in this research. The sampling method is a purposive sampling involving a total of five home based child daycare with defined criteria. The results of cross-case synthetic analysis showed that there are five themes that decribe practice among unlicensed daycare names (i) prioritize hygiene (ii) sensitive to dangerous equipment (iii) work towards a safe environment (iv) lack of emergency preparedness and (v) involvement of caretaker family members. In addition, there are two important themes emerging in relation to child safety practices namely, (i) Child delinquency increases the risk of child injuries and (ii) the need of parental cooperation. Precaution to improve safe environment practices among unregistered caregivers are discussed particularly about the skills and enforcement requirements of the government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains the resilience factors among the former drug users. These users have had completed their rehabilitation program in the Cure and Care Rehabilitation Centre (CCRC), and are currently under the surveillance program administrated by the National Anti-Drug Agency. A total of 386 former drug users from the program in Peninsular Malaysia were selected as respondents. The study used cross-sectional data of the former drug users to employ the crosssectional quantitative method. In addition, data is analysed using a stepwise multiple regression technique. The analysis reveals four variables are significant predictors of former drug users to remain drug-free; drug rehabilitation program (β=.33,t= 7.27, P<.05,) family support (β=.29, t= 6.70, P<.05), employer support (β=.17, t= 3.82, P<.05), and community support (β=.10, t= 2.24, P<.05). Cumulatively, these predictors accounted 46.2 per cent (r = .68) change in the variance of their resilience (F (4,381) = 81,940, P<.05). These factors found effective for former drug users to remain successful in maintaining a drug-free lifestyle. The findings have provided a positive role to strengthen the resilience strategy of the stake holders for former drug users. In addition, the findings are also beneficial to improve the rehabilitation module for the former drug users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In preference to preparing an effective carrier module which aims to enable the prisoners on parole to develop a long-standing carrier and a self-governing life predominantly their financial, this article aims to measure the entrepreneurship characteristics owned by the parolee in Malaysia. To arrive at prudent findings, a quantitative method using cross-sectional survey is employed. In total, 280 parolees from all over Malaysia who are undergoing a Parole Surveillance Program under the Malaysia Prison Department have been recruited. Finding suggest, majority of the parolees (64.6 %) hold a medium to high level (34.6 %) of positive entrepreneurship characteristics. Merely, 0.7 % fell into the zero level entrepreneurship groups where all the parolees in this group do not own any entrepreneurship characteristics. Conclusively, a new-fangled positive implication proposed by this study is the need of Malaysia Prison Department to develop an entrepreneurship skill management module focused primarily on strengthening talent and carrier skills with the intention of preparing the parolees to assimilate well in the community after them being released. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]