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UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
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| Abstract : Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris |
| Year by year, increasing number of at-risk student who enter schools has been found in Malaysia. Various studies on at-risk students had been conducted by researchers; however, none of the studies focused on the moral reasoning of such students. This study investigated the moral reasoning and the characteristics of at-risk students in two welfare institutions which are situated in Melaka. The theory of moral reasoning by Lawrence Kohlberg (1984) became the theoretical foundation in this study. The participants were three male students from School 1 and three female students from School 2. The study employed focus group discussions and individual interviews as data collection methods. The moral reasoning of the participants was explained by their responses to six hypothetical moral dilemma scenarios, while their characteristics were explained by their responses to semi -structured interview questions. In general, the findings revealed that the participants in this study 1) reasoned at conventional morality; 2) belonged to either the stage of interpersonal conformity orientation or the stage of law-and-order orientation; 3) exhibited intermediate level of internalization based on their responses to the moral dilemma scenarios. In terms of the characteristics of at-risk students, the findings indicated that the participants 1) experienced healthy and unhealthy family relationship; 2) experienced various types of family problems; 3) experienced good and bad friendship; 4) had ever been in adolescent groups 5) experienced positive and negative teacher-student relationship; 6) expressed positive and negative perception towards school; 7) stated that they had bad experiences while staying in school; 8) described themselves based on individual, relational and collective self; 9) yielded that the most important factors that influence their moral judgment were the school, their family, their teachers, their peers, and their moral cognition; and 10) attended school due to one's intention, family report, under court order, or record of police cases. Suggestions in terms of number of interviewer and presentation of moral dilemma scenarios had been made for future research. In conclusion, this study was consistent with the theory of moral reasoning as proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg (1984). |
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