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This study aims to explore the family experiences of delinquent adolescents and uses a descriptive phenomenological research design.

The study explores the family experiences of delinquent adolescents and uses a descriptive phenomenological research design. Eight adolescents that were under detainment in a rehabilitation centre in Malaysia participated in the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals.

Five themes common to the participants’ experience were inductively identified from the analysis. These were: life without guidance, alienation and isolation, conflict on how the family is managed; I am still a little child and prisoners at home.

Despite many studies on delinquent adolescents were conducted in Malaysia, no study has been conducted so far to explore and understand the experience of female adolescents in their families.

The path to academic excellence is neither paved with roses nor easy; nonetheless, cautiously driving such a road has endless thrills especially when the driver is passionate about academia. This chapter intends to bring to the fore the hurdles I have been confronting in my academic path as an international scholar and a researcher in some of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, Malaysia and Canada (Global North and South institutions) for over 14 years. Hence, it mirrors my research experiences to guide Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and accentuates the importance of research culture, professional designations and networking with experts from other world knowledge bodies.

This paper aims to contribute to the existing conceptualizations of counseling ethics competency and to develop a counseling ethics competency scale. This paper also argues that spirituality and self-efficacy influence counseling ethics competency.

A series of studies were performed to develop hypotheses and a conceptual framework to determine the relationships among spirituality, self-efficacy and counseling ethics competency. To measure registered counselors’ counseling ethics competency, a document analysis of the Counselors Code of Ethics was conducted and pretested on the basis of a pilot test prior to the empirical development of the scale.

A conceptual framework was developed to operationalize the theory and to present the influence of spirituality and self-efficacy on counseling ethics competency. The counseling ethics competency scale was found reliable and valid to measure the registered counselors’ competency in the eight components of the Counselors Code of Ethics.

The scale and framework can be used as tools to identify competencies where registered counselors are lacking and to pinpoint skills on which counselors need to improve. This research also will provide insights for counselor educators to be innovative in teaching and learning ethics within the scope of counselor education training programs.

There is no specific scale available to measure counseling ethics competency among registered counselors in Malaysia. Thus, this research unveils the importance of measuring counseling ethics competency in molding effective and ethical Malaysian counselors, and subsequently pinpointing factors that can improve counseling ethics competency.

We recommend to assess the scale using EFA, followed by CFA to determine and confirm the factor structure of the scale items. In terms of the field, future scope may not just focus on the traits, characters and skills building but also place more emphasis on ethics comprehension toward best practices of ethics application and internalization on becoming self-sufficient counselors.

This paper aims to examine the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the knowledge creation practices adopted by a health care organization. The organization is delivering care to patients of a genetic disorder, called the sickle cell, in tribal communities. The paper identifies how ICT intermediates knowledge creation practices across the organizational boundaries wherein tribal patients, front-line counselors and expert physicians interact, which then produces context-specific, evidence-based medicine (EBM).

The knowledge-in-practice approach is adopted to conduct an ethnographic study of sickle cell care practices in a non-profit health care organization in Western India. The analysis focuses on ICT-mediated interactional practices among the physicians, front-line counselors, tribal patients and their families, for more than a year-long observation. These are supplemented with informal and formal interviews, archival records and vignettes based on several episodes to explicate the key knowledge creation practices.

Technology-mediated informative interactions at organizational boundaries can bridge socio-linguistic and interpretive barriers between actors, while also providing a generative structure that leads to the creation of longitudinal clinical evidence about a rare genetic disorder. Three specific ICT-entwined knowledge creation practices emerge, namely, knowing the community, increasing interactional engagement and constructing gradients of socio-clinical history. These practices generate organization-wide knowledge about the social and clinical dimensions of the genetic disorder. The findings are presented through vignettes and a novel conceptual framework.

This study identifies various useful knowledge creation practices in health care delivery for resource-constrained emerging economy contexts. Further, the study suggests that the involvement of local front-line actors and ICT can become important resources in the delivery of health care in these settings.

A novel framework is developed which demonstrates knowledge creation at organizational boundaries wherein the actors use ICT-based practices for effective delivery of health care. The proposed framework may be used by health care organizations in similar contexts providing care to marginalized communities.

Children experience trauma more often than many early childhood educators realize. As many as 26% of children experience multiple trauma events such as abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, parental incarceration, and so forth. Trauma impacts brain development in many negative ways that may have serious consequences on the child’s ability to learn, grow socially and emotionally, and develop physically. These brain changes also change how the child will play in the early childhood classroom, and information is given to help recognize the signs of trauma in children. The early childhood educator can make trauma-sensitive modifications in the classroom to assist the traumatized child’s ability to play out the problem. School counselors can be a resource for assisting early childhood teachers when working with traumatized children. A brief description of the importance of play therapy as a developmentally appropriate method to help traumatized young children is provided.

Little is known about effective supervision of offenders with debt. This multiple case study aims to gain insight into working elements in offender supervision on debt. This is important for probation officers to choose the most effective interventions in daily offender supervision.

This study included five best practice cases based on both interviews with involved professionals and clients and client file information. One case was described in detail to illustrate what probation officers and clients encounter when working on debt. All five cases were analyzed thematically using pattern matching techniques and crosscase syntheses on debt background, current supervision, barriers and working elements.

Organization processes and lack of aftercare hinder effective supervision. Close collaboration with other professionals (e.g. debt counselors) is important in supervising clients with debt. The client’s own behavior and motivation for supervision are crucial in the success of debt supervision and can be both hindering and effective. Working elements in supervision depend on personal characteristics of professionals involved and on the extent to which elements of a working alliance, particularly trust and bonding, are built.

Support and facilitation from probation organizations regarding primary conditions and collaboration, training professionals in methods of stimulating clients motivation and an effective working alliance are essential to supervise clients with debt adequately.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other in-depth study has yet been conducted on working elements in supervision of probationers with debt.

The Open University of the United Kingdom is acknowledged as one of the most successful distance education system yet designed. High among the reasons for its success is the student support service provided by the Regional Tutorial Services, a department of the Open University administrative structure which has received little acclaim. This paper shows how the Regional Tutorial Services copes with the problem of drop‐outs that has been a feature of many other distance systems and how it seeks to provide a valid educational experience for those enrolled. Three phases in the evolution of the present administrative system are analysed and various aspects of structure are discussed. Attention is drawn to developments in computer recording which may enable the Regional Tutorial Services to forecast possible drop‐outs and thus take a major step towards eliminating avoidable student withdrawal.

The purpose of this study was to examine the results of a deliberate psychological and educational intervention with at-risk youth (placed in a detention center) that have been identified as having the potential to benefit from a behavioral program.

The program provided systemic behavioral health assessments using trauma-informed care guidelines and then linked the participants to mental health and substance services to increase the children’s access to key health services and reduce the risk of recidivism. The program also provided psychoeducational resources to stakeholders including parents, judges and corrections officers. Comparisons were made between participants receiving the intervention to determine pre and post results.

Recidivism rates were also examined. Study participants included 395 at-risk youth between the ages of 13 and 17. In summary, the findings supported the use of this multi-pronged program with juveniles residing in detention centers.

All work on this research project was completed by the listed authors.

Employment exchanges have been playing a significant role in the worldwide labor market for more than a hundred years now. In India, since 1946, millions of aspiring Indian youths have registered themselves with the government-run employment exchanges to find a job. About four million job seekers got registered at 1,000 employment exchanges in India, it is important to analyze the placement statistics of these exchanges. In recent years, new methods of job search have evolved. This study examines whether employment exchanges are effective in the changed scenario?

Using state-level employment exchange data for the period 2010–2011 to 2019–2020, this study analyzes the determinants of job placement at employment exchanges in India. A critical analysis of the functioning of employment exchanges along with recommendations to improve the job search ecosystem in India is also presented in the study.

This study found that increased share of service sector in the state economy negatively impacts placement at employment exchanges.

The absence of focus on the service sector requires policy intervention if Indian employment exchanges are to remain relavant.

The government administration should rethink that ignoring service sector employment potential is unaffordable for an emerging economy and employment exchanges should be aligned accordingly.

About 30 million people are unemployed in India. If employment exchanges are transformed, it can have far-reaching socio-economic advantages.

This study is the first sub-country level study on the institution of employment exchanges. This study comprehensively maps the landscape of career services in India. Empirically establishing the impact of sectoral structure of economy on efficacy of employment exchanges, and makes the case for policy intervention that is needed to keep the employment exchanges relevant in India.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of knowledge and attitude on firms’ commitment to Halal standard practices in a developing nation’s food sector. Additionally, the moderating effect of gender on this association is explored.

The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique is used to analyse the results of a self-administered questionnaire completed by 200 internal Halal executive officers of multinational corporations and small and medium enterprises in a developing nation’s food sector.

The empirical findings reflect the significant role of attitude in influencing firms’ commitment to Halal standard compliance in the food sector and thereby contribute towards improving organisational performance. In more detail, male respondents were more likely than female respondents to have a favourable attitude toward Halal standards in the food industry. Additionally, a positive attitude can influence how employees are judged on their adherence to Halal standard processes. This encouraging outcome is the result of joint efforts by all government agencies, statutory bodies and private organisations involved in Halal practices.

Halal food producers should engender greater commitment to Halal standard practices within the buyer–supplier relationship due to the crucial nature of Halal concerns in food production. They should place a premium on strategic planning to safeguard the integrity of Halal food for consumption.

This study considerably advances the existing body of knowledge by applying the consumer decision model to explain the relationships between knowledge, attitude and firms’ commitment to Halal standard practices in the food industry of a developing nation, with gender serving as a moderating variable. The empirical findings addressed the research gap by offering noteworthy insight into a subject that has received minimal attention in prior studies.