Investment-prevention strategies to alleviate juvenile delinquency in Malaysia / Tai Soo Shong

This study is intended to investigate and examine the risk and protective factors affecting juvenile delinquency for the purposes of early intervention and prevention. Since antisocial behaviour has its origins in child development, the present study places great emphasis on human development in context based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology Systems Theory as its theoretical framework. The holistic qualitative approach was used on multiple case studies in order to trace the underlying causes of juvenile delinquent or non-delinquent behaviour. The respondents of this study comprised of six of my former students and six trainees from Sekolah Tunas Bakti, a rehabilitation institution for delinquent boys. After months of participant observation, interviews, stimulative-recall methodology, and document analysis, the findings of this study show that juvenile delinquency is the outcome of the various social processes in the environment and these include family relationships, school experiences, and peer associations. Parental divorce, family conflict, poor parenting, poverty, poor teacher-student relationship, academic failure, lack of commitment to school, association with deviant peers, and participation in antisocial activities have been found to be some of the most potential factors affecting the character and behavioural development of the children. The findings of this study suggest that school-based after-school programs and extracurricular activities are the most cost effective and easily accessible intervention programs to keep delinquency at bay. Although these programs are nothing new to our country’s education system, there is still much room for improvement due to the inappropriate manner in which they are being carried out in the schools. These programs, if implemented successfully based on my suggestions, can have a lot to contribute towards the intervention and prevention of juvenile delinquent behaviour in Malaysia

Poverty and delinquency: A qualitative study on selected juvenile offenders in Malaysia

This qualitative case study explored the voices of juvenile offenders in Malaysia who were plagued with poverty, and brought to light their plight. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of poverty on the delinquent character and behavioural development of the children on three major crime-enhancing themes – miserable family conditions, school failure and association with deviant peers – to get a broader view of how poverty could influence their life trajectory. The purposive maximum variation sampling method was used in the selection of six young offenders between the ages of 13 and 17 years from Sekolah Tunas Bakti Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A multiple data collection method that included observation, in-depth case study and document analysis was used for data collection. Results showed that three major crime-enhancing themes due to poverty were strongly related to children’s delinquent character and behavioural development. The knowledge gained from this study will further contribute to understanding the real-life experiences of juvenile offenders, particularly those who are experiencing extreme deprivation, and it is hoped that the insight gained could help in the prevention and control of juvenile delinquent behaviour in Malaysia. © The Author(s) 2018

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field