1.Unfitness To Plead Among Female Offenders: When Looseness Matters
Loo Jiann Lin ; Eu Choon Leng ; Johari Khamis ; Rabaà ; ¢ ; â ; ?¬ ; â ; ?¢ ; iah Binti Mohd Salleh ; Suarn Singh ; Jasmit Singh
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry 2018;19(1):14-
Objective: Pritchard Criteria are adopted in a Malaysian criminal-justice system while assessing fitness to plead. There is limited data on the reason of unfitness to plead for female offenders in Malaysia. Methods: A case series of five patients hospitalized to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Malaysia due to unfitness to plead was presented and discussed. Result: The offences include three homicides, one assault, and one stealing. All of them were diagnosed to have schizophrenia with prominent looseness of association. Four of them subsequently treated as Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia (TRS) with a minimal response toward clozapine. Conclusion: Looseness of association may be a contributing factor for unfitness to plead among Malaysian female offenders, which can result in indeterminate hospitalization. This should be confirmed in a larger prospective study.
2.Psychometric properties of the Malay version of motivation scales in drug treatment
Madihah Shukri ; Ruhani Mat Min ; Siti Salina Abdullah ; Raba&rsquo ; Aton Adawiyah Mohd Yusof ; Zuhda Husain
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2019;74(5):377-384
Introduction: In recognition of the role of motivation in drug
use treatment, patient motivational screening instruments
are needed for strategic planning and treatment. The aims of
this study were to evaluate the reliability and validity of the
Malay version of the Treatment Motivation Scale, and to
compare the motivational levels of patients receiving
substance abuse treatment with different modalities
(inpatient vs. outpatient). The motivational scale consists of
three scales: problem recognition, desire for help and
treatment readiness.
Method: A convenience sample of 102 patients was recruited
from four Cure and Care Service Centres in Malaysia.
Results: Principal component analysis with varimax rotation
supported two-factor solutions for each subscale: problem
recognition, desire for help and treatment readiness, which
accounted for 63.5%, 62.7% and 49.1% of the variances,
respectively. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were
acceptable for the overall measures (24 items: α = 0.89), the
problem recognition scale (10 items; α = 0.89), desire for
help (6 items; α = 0.64) and treatment readiness scale (8
items; α = 0.60). The results also indicated significant
motivational differences for different modalities, with
inpatients having significantly higher motivational scores in
each scale compared to outpatients.
Conclusion: The present study pointed towards the
favourable psychometric properties of a motivation for
treatment scale, which can be a useful instrument for clinical
applications of drug use changes and treatment.