Social Well-Being of Juvenile Sex Offenders with Conduct Issues in Malaysia

  • Barbara Lim Xuan Teng Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, UCSI University, No.1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights, Taman Connaught, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Zhooriyati Sehu Mohamad Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, UCSI University, No.1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights, Taman Connaught, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Keywords: social well-being, juvenile delinquency, sex offender, conduct issues

Abstract

Adolescents' ability to converse and form meaningful connections with others, as well as to keep up a social network that helps them to avoid isolation, is greatly aided by their level of social well-being. Juvenile delinquents with conduct disorder exhibit more psychopathology and commit more serious crimes than those without a conduct disorder diagnosis. However, it has been proven that positive peer interactions lessen behaviour problems in adolescents where the negative behaviour in teenagers can be diminishes with increased peer support. To explore how the juvenile sex offenders with conduct issues socialized with peers, seven juvenile sex offenders between the age of 14 to 17 with conduct issues were participated in interviews. The data were collected from two detention centers in Selangor and Perak, Malaysia, and analysed using thematic analysis. This study found that social well-being includes social interaction, peers support, closeness in peer relationships, peer acceptance, and a sense of belonging among juvenile sex offenders with conduct issues in detention centers. It is concluded that social well-being is vital in building emotional resilience among juvenile sex offenders with conduct issues. Positive social well-being allows adolescents to move forward and self-growth while negative social well-being regresses the individual in cognitive, and socio-emotional development. The findings demonstrated the significance of adolescents' social well-being, which helps them maintain their health and develop social and emotional abilities in the detention centre.

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Published
2022-12-31
How to Cite
Xuan Teng, B. and Sehu Mohamad, Z. (2022) “Social Well-Being of Juvenile Sex Offenders with Conduct Issues in Malaysia”, Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 7(12), p. e001965. doi: 10.47405/mjssh.v7i12.1965.
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Articles