AbstractYear 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 c.....