Behavioural integrity and integrity practices towards child maltreatment at child care centres

Abstract

This research investigates the correlations between Welfare Officers' job satisfaction in the Malaysian childcare sector as well as Behavioral Integrity and Integrity Practices and Emotional Intelligence. Both Ethical Development Theory and Social Learning Theory serve as theoretical frameworks for this study because they explain how individuals learn ethics through their decision-making process and by observing social behaviours. The study conducted data collection from 172 Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat Terengganu officers by distributing structure questionnaires then analysed data through descriptive statistics together with correlation and regression methods. Job satisfaction had positive relationships with all three constructs and emotional intelligence provided the most substantial contribution (β = 0.537, p < 0.001) to job satisfaction ratings. Research showed that behavioural integrity and integrity practices have positive relationships yet failed to demonstrate statistical importance for predicting satisfaction at work. The study results indicate emotional intelligence stands as a superior factor compared to ethical alignment when measuring professional fulfilment within welfare services. The research explains the Job Integrity Model (JIM) which serves as a conceptual base to show how emotional intelligence training should be used with ethics-based programs during workforce development. The implications point toward institutional strategies that prioritize emotional competencies to enhance service delivery and well-being among welfare officers. This study contributes to the field of organizational ethics and social welfare by offering practical insights for policy-makers and training institutions focused on improving the quality of care in child-centered environments.