Background: The needs of intensive care patient’s family members are often neglected. Many healthcare practitioners do not realize that meeting the family needs in the intensive care settings actually may improve outcome for their patients and enable the family members to cope and deal with the patient’s hospitalization period effectively. With this in mind, the present study aimed to address the needs of Malaysian family members of intensive care unit patients. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among family members of Intensive Care Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. A total of 60 family members were recruited using a convenience sampling manner. A Malay validated Critical Care Family Needs Inventory was used to identify the family needs among the respondents. Descriptive statistics as well as mean comparison analyses were employed to achieve the study. Results: The findings showed that family members ranked Assurance items as the most important needs. In terms of subscales scores, Assurance and Information evidenced higher mean scores compared to other dimensions. All the family need dimensions had positive and significant associations with one another. The highest correlation was noted among Comfort – Support pair, r(58) = 0.73, p < 0.001. No significant differences in the mean values found across gender, history of admission and types of relationships. In contrast, significant mean difference was observed across level of education. Conclusion: Identifying the needs of family members in the intensive care unit is imperative as it raises awareness and contributes knowledge in terms of family needs to healthcare providers, policy makers, medical social workers and general public.
Critical Care

Objective: A sizable body of criminology literature has suggested that personality factors are critical to the development of aggressive behaviour. While research on personality focusing on aggression often revolves on "Eynseck Three Factor Model" and "Big Five Model", research on "Alternative Five Factor Model" (AFFM) is rather inadequate. Objective: The present study aimed to examine the association between five types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in two prisons in Peninsular Malaysia among 198 Malay adult male inmates. The participants were selected based on the purposive sampling method from those who were convicted for various types of crime. Two psychometric instruments adapted to the Malaysian context were used: Malay version of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-40-Cross Culture (ZKPQ-M-40-CC) and Aggression Questionnaire (AQ-M). Pearson correlation coefficient test was conducted to determine the association between five types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. Results: The results showed that there was a significant association between certain types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. The results were discussed in relation to theory and the context of crime. Conclusion: There is evidence that personality traits are linked to aggressive behaviour which may lead a person to commit offenses.

Objective: Apart from environmental and social factors, psychological traits is largely linked with criminal and delinquent behaviour. The purpose of this article is to review four critical psychological traits of individuals that may lead to criminal behaviour in a nutshell. Methods: An archival research methodology was employed in this study where relevant search for literatures on these four psychological traits was made across search engines such as Google Scholar with relevant articles selected for this review. The literatures were microscopically reviewed in order to demonstrate the linkage between psychological traits and criminal behaviour. Results: Four psychological traits: personality trait, low self-control, aggression behaviour, and cognitive distortion were chosen to address such linkages. All these four traits were discussed thoroughly in relation to crime and criminality contexts. Conclusion: It is crucial to understand the role of these traits and in-depth understanding of each psychological trait with relation of criminal behaviour offers and opportunity to the public at large to expand their knowledge on the importance of practicing and equipping oneself with healthy psychological traits to hinder criminal and delinquent acts.

Murder is the most notorious crime that violates religious, social and cultural norms. Examining the types and number of different killing methods that used are pivotal in a murder case. However, the psychological traits underlying specific and multiple killing methods are still understudied. The present study attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by identifying the underlying psychological traits of different killing methods among Malaysian murderers. The study adapted an observational cross-sectional methodology using a guided self-administered questionnaire for data collection. The sampling frame consisted of 71 Malaysian male murderers from 11 Malaysian prisons who were selected using purposive sampling method. The participants were also asked to provide the types and number of different killing methods used to kill their respective victims. An independent sample t-test was performed to establish the mean score difference of psychological traits between the murderers who used single and multiple types of killing methods. Kruskal-Wallis tests were carried out to ascertain the psychological trait differences between specific types of killing methods. The results suggest that specific psychological traits underlie the type and number of different killing methods used during murder. The majority (88.7%) of murderers used a single method of killing. Multiple methods of killing was evident in ‘premeditated’ murder compared to ‘passion’ murder, and revenge was a common motive. Examples of multiple methods are combinations of stabbing and strangulation or slashing and physical force. An exception was premeditated murder committed with shooting, when it was usually a single method, attributed to the high lethality of firearms. Shooting was also notable when the motive was financial gain or related to drug dealing. Murderers who used multiple killing methods were more aggressive and sadistic than those who used a single killing method. Those who used multiple methods or slashing also displayed a higher level of minimisation traits. Despite its limitations, this study has provided some light on the underlying psychological traits of different killing methods which is useful in the field of criminology.
Homicide ; Psychology

Introduction: Psychotherapy is a form of treatment intervention targeting problematical human behaviour, emotion, and cognition using various psychological techniques and approaches. In Malaysia, the application of psychotherapy in ameliorating criminality among forensic populations is developing and evidence shows that some therapies like Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Reality Therapy have been practiced in many correctional institutions. Objective: This paper aims to review the role of psychotherapy for help in correctional settings as a means to ameliorate criminal behaviour and reduce recidivism rates. Method: An archival research was utilised, where articles and books regardless of the year of publication from different countries, including Malaysia were examined. Several keywords were used for the purpose of retrieval of related articles. Results and Discussion: Three different approaches of psychotherapies, i.e. Behavioural Therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and their principles and effectiveness in rehabilitating the forensic populations were elaborated in this review. The principle behind the effectiveness of the psychotherapy was different, and this influences the choice of treatment that should be used in dealing with the forensic populations. Conclusion: Â Forensic populations have rights to obtain treatment, and the choice of therapy has to be relevant within the context of cost-effectiveness to ensure optimum effectiveness in ameliorating criminal tendencies. Â

Introduction: Murder is an extreme form of violent crime which occurs across all social, cultural, and ethnic spheres. It is therefore, crucial to understand the nature and the extent of mechanical profiles of murder and murderers. The purpose of this article is to review such critical aspects of murder in a nutshell. Methods: An archival research methodology was employed in this study where relevant search for literatures on these mechanical aspects related to murder was made across search engines such as Google Scholar and Elsevier with relevant articles selected for this review. Results and Discussion: This review discusses in an in-depth manner, pivotal mechanical profiles which include motives, methods of killing, choice of weapon, settings, targeted body parts, and murder victim concealment. In-depth understanding of each mechanical aspect offers an opportunity to the public at large to expand their knowledge on murder prevention manners which is vital for crime prevention efforts in the future.
Homicide ; murder