Exploring the Effect of Expulsion on Student ’ s Psycho-Social Development

Expulsion from school is a life changing event and can leave a big scar in students’ lives making them feel lost or miserable. This incident might change the direction of a student’s life and whether the outcome is good or bad, will largely depend on the student. However, without keen intercession especially from parents, this interference in the students' lives might have an unsalvageable effect. This narrative case study aims to find out about an expelled girl’s life once she left her old school where she was expelled from. The intention of this study is to understand how the respondent recognizes and overcomes her negative perception and emotions as an expelled student in the new school in regards to her psychosocial development. Results from the findings using qualitative interviewing, journal writing, and document analysis show four notable areas. The expelled student (1) expresses deep feeling of contrition after expulsion, (2) managed her emotions by surrounding herself in the company of people who gave her moral support like her parents, teachers and friends (3) parents, particularly mother, was the most pivotal in helping through her emotions, (4) feels the expulsion was unfair, but supports zero tolerance policies for serious offenses. This research provides valuable information regarding the expulsion experience of a student and addresses the effect on the student’s psychosocial development. The analysis concludes that expulsion can be coped by the student with proper guidance and leads the expulsion experience in a positive way.


Introduction
In recent years, the number of disciplinary cases among students in Malaysia is increasing at an alarming rate.Serious disciplinary problems such as drug abuse and bullying has become major issues of concern among parents, teachers and school management.Schools nationwide are taking various necessary measures to address their discipline problems in their schools.In a circular from the Ministry of Education Malaysia, teachers are allowed to cane students as a form of corporal punishment over their misconduct.Many parents gave a mix response on the implementation of this corporal punishment.For those who have reservation or suggest to ban the corporal punishment feel that caning should be the last resort after various interventions programs, warnings, detention and counselling have failed to discipline a student.The final step to curb discipline problem is expulsion.Expulsion may be obviously the harshest punishment in school, furthermore they are much less averse on drop out.Regardless, the expulsion sits tight on students' school record, succeeding them on other scholastic establishments (Gjelten, 2014).Serino (2007) viewed expulsion as, "There is no tougher rule than this.There is no greater sanction than being expelled from school."The Education Ministry, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid stated on October 6, 2017, expulsion for school students who are entangled in severe disciplinary cases is a must in order to curb their misconduct.A student can be expelled for various reasons depending on the school's rules and regulations.In Malaysia, serious cases such as bullying, arson and fighting can lead to expulsion which have been happening for a few years.Expulsion is carried out in order to make sure the students who are expelled understand the severity of getting involved in a misconduct which disrespects the school's rules and regulations.It is also to give importance to discipline which is considered the most important code of behaviour.Research shows that students who are expelled experience additional negative life situations over the individuals who did not.Students who are expelled miss some school time and regularly find themselves further behind their peers when they go back to school, making a lower level of academic accomplishment and withdrawal from school (Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2006).This is a big influence especially for teenagers who are going through identity versus role confusion, stage five in Erik Erikson's psychosocial development.
Oxford English Mini-dictionary (sixth edition, 2004) states expel means to force a pupil to leave a school.Expel means to drive out by force (Godfrey, 2013).Expulsion is a punishment used by the school to repress unwanted behaviour.It happens when a student is removed from the school forever.Expulsion is different from suspension, whereby expulsion is much more serious and has a lasting effect on someone.
The current narrative case study aims to find out about an expelled girl's life after she left her old school where she was expelled from.The main purpose of this study is to explore how the respondent recognizes and overcomes her negative perception and emotions as an expelled student in the new school in regard to her psychosocial development.
The school attended by the respondent is known for its zero delinquency principles.Any student who wishes to enroll in this school must be conscientiously interviewed together with their parents or guardians.This is a compulsory conduct for all students.Only students with good conduct will be accepted.They strictly uphold the principle that parents or guardians must not interfere in their school management.In other words, the school management must be assigned with full authority to deal with student affairs.Every school has its own purposes to have certain rules and regulations in order to produce students who are well behaved physically and mentally in all situations.
The school studied by the respondent offers two modes of study, Malaysian syllabus and international programme.The respondent was in the Malaysian education programme.According to the school's rules and regulations which was amended in May 2014, one of the rules states that students must not loiter in shopping complexes or other public places without the company of parents.Another rule is, involvement in love affairs with students of the opposite sex is considered a serious offence.The respondent broke both the rules and she was expelled without further discussion.The school's decision on all matters regarding discipline and expulsion must not be disputed by parents or guardians and it is final and irrevocable.
It is stated in the school's website and also written on the school's rules and regulations that the school is with almost zero defects as far as student discipline is concerned.Zero-tolerance policies are policies that punish any rule infraction, regardless of circumstances or intentionality.Rice (2009) interprets zero-tolerance policies stating: "Zero-tolerance policies specify which conduct is unacceptable at school and the consequences that will follow for those who engage in the proscribed conduct; as suggested by their name, the zero-tolerance policies allow for no exceptions, compromise, or discretion." The respondent broke both the rules and she was expelled without further discussion.The school's decision on all matters regarding discipline and expulsion must not be disputed by parents or guardians and it is final and irrevocable.It is clearly stated in the school's rules and regulations and it was also informed to the students and parents.

Theoretical Framework
For the purpose of this study, the researcher has used the theory of psychosocial and cognitive development.Using theory of psychosocial development, Stage 5 is emphasised in this study which is identity versus role confusion.This is the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood, also known as adolescence.Erikson (1950) states that this is practically an essential phase in a person's life.An individual takes the past experiences and integrates them, at the same time reasoning their actions.The most common question to an individual at this stage is "Who am I?".This theory has been chosen to make clear the direction of the development and the barriers to the development through the life span of the respondent.

Theory of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson (1902Erikson ( -1994)), a developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst addressed issues such as trust, competence, and intimacy in his work with his clients.Erikson had a personal experience in what he called a 'crisis of identity' in his own life.Based on these experiences, he developed a theory of 'psychosocial' development.The term psychosocial is all about the desire for people to connect with each other in order to have a positive development from one stage to another.They need interaction to be able to have a positive growth throughout their journey of life (Erikson, 1968(Erikson, , 1980)).
In this research, the researcher will relate this theory with the respondent's expulsion experience to comprehend better on what she is going through as an expelled student.She is at the fifth stage of identity versus role confusion as she analyses for different roles in an environment of freedom which plainly makes breaking points in her growth.

Theory of Cognitive Development
Even though the main study is on the respondent's psychosocial development but since the researcher is interested to know how the respondent recognizes and overcomes her negative perception and emotions, the researcher includes Piaget's theory as well.Thought discerns reasoning and memory processes and cognitive improvement to a long haul progressions over changes.A standout amongst the vast majority known perspectives over cognitive development is the cognitive theory by Jean Piaget (1936).
The respondent is at the fourth stage, the formal operational.Throughout this time, people create the capacity to ponder unique ideas.Aptitudes for example, is a legitimate thought, deductive reasoning, and organized planning develop throughout this stage.Similarly as it is known, learners with a capability to imagine hypothetically have favourable element on a large number of school work.By definition, they require generally some 'props' to take care of issues.

Literature Review
The literature review is on education in Malaysia, and measures to address disciplinary issue such as expulsion and zero tolerance policy.Analysis of literature also covers theoretical aspects on psychosocial and cognitive development.The literature review looks at the research of other researchers who have performed related research.The research is used to compare and simultaneously provides more details and solutions to the complexity of the problem mentioned.According to the literature review, there are more researchers from other countries who had conducted research on expulsion.
In the article, 'When Students Get Expelled From School, What Happens Next?' written by Naj and published on 30 October 2017, it is stated that Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said in September, 2017 that she does not agree with expulsion.She believes expulsion does not do any justice to the expelled students and makes them feel unwanted.This may lead to more serious disciplinary problems.As for the Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, he said everyone has to take part in solving the disciplinary social issues.He continued saying that if the issues are not addressed now, there will be serious consequences in the future.He also mentioned that counselling is a good method to help the problematic teenagers.The Socio-Economic Research Institute (SERI) under the Prime Minister's Department is working on the new Social Agenda which gives priority to the problems faced by teenagers nowadays.
Therefore, the researcher of this study has taken an initiative to study the effect of psycho-social development of an expelled student.

Education in Malaysia
Education in Malaysia is managed by the Ministry of Education.In spite of the fact that responsibility will be of the elected government, each state and central region need a training division to co-ordinate instructive matters in its domain.The principle enactment legislating governing is the Education Act 1996.The education framework is separated under preschool, elementary, secondary, post-secondary and tertiary education.Education is acquired from the multilingual public-school system, which gives free education to all Malaysians, or private schools, or sometimes even homeschooling.

Discipline Problems in Malaysian Schools
On 6 April 2017, Chairman of the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE), Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said that corporal punishment should not be the way to discipline children in schools.The government does not want to abolish corporal punishment in schools, said Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon on April 28, 2017 even though a student was beaten by a school staff.The ministry also said in a written parliamentary reply on May 24, 2016 that canings, suspension and expulsion were to be punishments of last resort by schools, with the only other allowed disciplinary action being warnings, fines and detention.

Expulsion
Expulsion is a permanent exclusion or removal of a student from a school due to breaking the school's rules and regulations or behaving in an inappropriate way which does not adhere to the school's etiquette and principles.

Malaysia
There have been several expulsion cases in Malaysia.To name some, there was this incident in Pahang whereby the Pahang Education Department director, Datuk Rosdi Ismail said it was true that a kneeling Form One student was expelled in August 2015 but it was due to multiple disciplinary problems.He said, the student's demerit points were too high that the school had no choice but to expel him and he was a naughty student.He also highlighted that the expelled student had already transferred to another school and is still studying.
Bullying is also another serious case in Malaysia which is very hard to curb.On 23 May 2017, ten students from Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) Parit, Perak, were expelled for bullying six Form Two students earlier that month.The decision was taken by the Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister, Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub with Mara College committee.Every one of the problematic students, including the individuals expelled because of bullying, will be given a second possibility to keep up with their education, however they must do it in a different school.Their present school is not willing to keep them as a way of punishment towards them.Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon said the ministry accepted the problematic students and they ought to be permitted to continue studies.
Another incident would be on 14 September 2017, whereby six students were arrested in relation to an arson at a religious school.The lives of twenty-three students and teachers were robbed.Therefore, expulsion was immediately decided.This action is necessary as being a reason for someone else' death is a serious offence.
The latest news on expulsion was on 5 October 2017 when a fifteen year old school boy was expelled due to disciplinary problems.What no one saw coming was the boy committed suicide on the same day.It could have been because of the shame he had to go through.The parents are devastated as they had no prior notice about the student's expulsion and the expulsion letter was handed over to the boy instead to the parents.The parents were not called to face the principal face to face and was not explained why their son was expelled.All they saw was a letter about his expulsion without any explanation from the school.

International
The reasons for expulsions show an undeviating structure which means most of the reasons are similar in many of the schools.As stated by Blyth and Milner (1993), the main reasons are, by definition, the reasons given by the school principal.To reality, the formal purpose behind expulsion might represent only the closure.They are the apotheosis of a lengthy declining association between the class and the learner.It may be likewise known that constant suspensions are regularly a prelude to expulsions and the reason may never be revealed.Expulsions are only necessary when a serious misconduct is carried out.Some expulsions are given authority by the law.In 1994, for example, to reinforce safety and ensure efficient learning environments, the Congress passed the Gun Free Schools Act (GFSA) mandating a one year expulsion for any student who brought a gun to school (Ewing, 2000;First, 2000).This legislation served as the cornerstone for contemporary zero tolerance policies, which denotes that severe instances of student violence and misbehaviour would result in severe consequences such as suspension or expulsion for the student.This is encouraged by the government.
Students' rights within the schools have also expanded.Before 1969, no one questioned the authority of school officials to discipline and to educate children.In the period of 1960 to 1968, an average of only nine relevant cases per year was taken to the courts.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were more students and parents who appealed to the courts with increased frequency.From 1969 to 1975, the number of cases heard by the courts rose to an average of 76 cases per year.After 1975, the number of cases heard by the courts decreased dramatically, and the cases focused on establishing a balance between the rights of individual students and school officials' need to promote an effective learning environment for all students (Arum, 2003).
In the journal, Pinellas County Schools, Code of Conduct, Misconduct That May Result In Disciplinary Action, 2002-2017, a student must be expelled from school if the expulsion board believes there is a reason for him or her to misbehave.That includes, willfully disobedient to the teachers or administrators, use profanity, assault, abuse other students, threaten by force, use or possess alcohol or drugs.

Objective
The main objective of this study is to explore how the respondent recognizes and overcomes her negative perception and emotions as an expelled student in regard to her psychosocial development.The sub-objectives are, to understand how did she feel about being expelled from school, to know how did she deal with her emotions about expulsion from school, to identify who has helped her to work through her emotions about being expelled and her suggestions to the school on the standards and rules setting out standards of behaviour.

Research Questions
In this study, the research questions addressed were: (1) how did the respondent feel about being expelled from school, (2) how did the respondent deal with her emotions about expulsion from school, (3) who has helped the respondent to work through her emotions about being expelled, ( 4) what would the respondent like to suggest to the school on the standards and rules setting out standards of behaviour.

Method
Qualitative research is opted to understand the experience that the respondent goes through in her life.This is a narrative case study and the respondent is a ninth grade student from a private school.There are a few reasons why qualitative research was chosen.Firstly, when something is not rightly defined, qualitative methods are supportive towards it.For example, the issues the respondent encounters and the needs that she cannot speak about could be explored.Next, qualitative methods allow the researcher the flexibility to inquest the respondent to respond in answering questions.
In order to comprehend the feelings, values, recognition that underlies and impact the respondent's needs, liable subject will be explored without much information about or, for the inverse reason, when meanings and generally unnoticed approaches needed to be grasped.A thick description about the respondent's expulsion is provided.
The data collection methods that are used in this study are document analysis, journal writing and interviews.This study is carried out using constructivism paradigm as it is a narrative case study on an expelled student's experience on how she copes with her life after being expelled.Narrative case study is a story of a genuine living person that gives information so that the problem can be identified and solved.Qualitative research is the best method to study the respondent and comprehend her life in her own words.Qualitative research allows the respondent to express her way of looking at something and how she interprets them.

Research Method
A qualitative approach for this study was chosen for several plausible reasons.Qualitative research methods are especially useful in discovering the meaning that people give to their events (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003;Denzin & Lincoln, 2000).Firstly, the research ventures on a substantive review of all prior empirical work which has been done in the area of expulsion both internationally and nationally as expulsion is a worldwide issue.
Literature reviews from international researches are cited to show the similarities and differences within the school systems.Factors that influence expulsions in schools are identified.A methodological review examines how all prior studies were conducted and which methods were used.A theoretical review helps the respondent to gauge how similar researches on expulsions and suspensions were interpreted, what theoretical frameworks were used to inform the study and what implications were drawn (Le Compte & Preissle 1993, p. 154).This qualitative research is narrative in nature.Narrative case study research is a term that involves a group of approaches that in turn depend on the written, spoken words or visual representation of individuals.These approaches typically focus on the lives of individuals as told through their own stories.Therefore, both non-interactive strategy (journal writings) and interactive strategy (the interviews) were employed in this research (Schumacher & McMillan, 1993).

Research Design
The research design alludes all of the generally speaking system that incorporates the distinctive segments of the study in a legitimate way, thereby, guaranteeing to deliver the research problem effectively.It constitutes the outline to the collection, measurement, and examination about information.This is a narrative case study and the respondent is a ninth grade student from a private school.Narrative case study is used in this study as the respondent narrates her story of being expelled and how is her life following the expulsion and what are the measures she took to overcome the expulsion process.

Narrative Case Study
This is a narrative case study because the research is in the form of story telling from the participant's view in a case study about her expulsion.It is important to take note that in the same manner that a story needs coherence, integrity and progression of the information, it is the same for a narrative case study research.The great educator-philosopher Jerome Bruner (1997: 126) dives in this way to say that narrative may be towards meaning making, anyhow being exploratory meaning.
Narrative research started from literature, history, anthropology, sociology, sociolinguistics, and education (Creswell, 2007, p. 54).Even though narrative research originated from literature, history, anthropology, sociology, sociolinguistics, and education, but many different fields of study have adopted their own approaches as well (Chase, 2005).
Employing the approaches by Clandinin and Connelly (2000) as a general procedural guide, the approaches on carrying out narrative study do not take after a lock-step approach, but rather a representable collection of topics.

Data Collection
Data collection is the methodology for gathering and measuring majority of the data on variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables the researcher to answer the research questions, test hypotheses or theories, and evaluate outcomes.
It is one of the most important steps in a research study as results of the findings will be established.There are three main instruments used in this research study.In light of the degree of this research, which centered for creating semantics, interviewing was chosen similarly as an information gathering method, and heightened those information with journal writing and document analysis.
The data collection methods are based mostly on texts, journal writing, document analysis and the interview transcript from audio to text.The researcher is in-charge of coming up with the codes and themes from the data.During data collection, Moustakas' (1994) strategy of bracketing to find out particular experiences, perceptions, opinions, ideas, patterns and attitudes was utilised.
These data are triangulated to come up with a conclusion of the respondent's experience and provide an extensive information so that the finding would be reliable and valid.

Results
From the collected data, the researcher used a coding framework to determine dominant themes.In the examination of qualitative data, coding is important to come up with data that make sense.The coding helps the researcher to answer the research questions.The codes that the researcher was able to come up through the interview and journal writings are regret, resolving the crisis, mother as the motivator and second chance.The researcher used key-words and repeated words by the respondent to come up with the codes which helped to develop the the researcher's interpretations of the findings.
Theme identification is one of the most basic tasks in qualitative research.The researcher came up with four themes from the codes.The results from the findings using qualitative interviewing, journal writing, document analysis and coding procedures show four notable areas.These results are the outcome from the eight months journey of the researcher with the respondent.
The expelled student (1) expresses deep feeling of contrition after expulsion, (2) managed her emotions by surrounding herself in the company of people who gave her moral support like her parents, teachers and friends (3) parents, particularly mother, was the most pivotal in helping her through her emotions, (4) feels her expulsion was unfair, but supports zero tolerance policies only for serious offenses like fights or drug abuses.

Expresses Deep Feeling of Contrition After Expulsion
The adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between childhood and adulthood, and between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics to be developed by the adult (Erikson, 1963, p. 245).It is very important for the respondent to be able to handle the expulsion process in order to move to the next stage.The respondent was able to cope with her expulsion and shows remorse for what she had done.
When asked the question if she feels that she deserved to be expelled, the respondent said, 'Yes, I have already knew the consequences of involving in a boy-girl-relationship but I still did it.It means that I did not obey the rules so I think I deserved it.Besides that, I also think that what I did was wrong so this would be a lesson for my life that I should not get involved in this kind of things anymore.'Stage 5 of Erikson's psychosocial development, identity versus role confusion emphasizes on being able to know oneself and work towards improving to the betterment of the person.The respondent did mention, 'I promised my parents to be a better person and to work hard to be successful in life.This is what they want.'The respondent is sure on what to do next in life and her parents' happiness is also important to her. 'I regret for what I did, I had made my parents to feel the disappointment towards me.Therefore, I felt okay for being expelled.''I will be regretting what I did for a very long time but mistakes cannot be undone.I can only reflect on it and I am certainly not proud of being expelled.It is not cool to be expelled especially when I had to leave my good friends whom I have known for quite some time.They are part of my life and now I do not get the chance to see them as much as I want like I used to.That makes me sad most of the time where I feel I have taken away my own happiness by getting involved in an act which led to my expulsion.'Only when she started to regret, she became more aware of herself.She began to 'identify' herself.
Expulsion is the most serious punishment anyone could face in their school life.The respondent accepts and takes full responsibility in getting involved in a misconduct.She wishes she could rewind time just so that she was not involved in a boy-girl-relationship and not get expelled for it.She wishes to be a better person as a daughter, student and friend.The respondent will never forget the dreadful day but it is also an experience to make her a better person.

Managed Her Emotions by Surrounding Herself in the Company of People Who Gave Her Moral Support
Like Her Parents, Teachers and Friends Erikson (1963) states that in order to be able to get to the next stage, an individual should be able to overcome the crisis in the previous stage.This may be the hardest stage for anyone to be able to resolve a crisis in order to move on in life.The respondent did not struggle much because her environment was very supportive towards her growth.The respondent has a positive attitude towards her expulsion.She did not blame anyone for her expulsion and kept stating that it was her own wrong doing.When asked who helped her to overcome the expulsion, she was quick enough to say her parents, some caring friends and teachers.
'Apart from leaving the school that I had studied for almost nine years, my expulsion process was not painful as I have some caring people around to motivate me.It took me about tow months to digest on what happened to me because I felt embarrassed, I still do.The motivation given by my parents, teachers and friends kept me going.' Erikson mentions about role confusion in this stage, stage 5.The respondent said she was pretty much confused when she was first expelled.She was feeling it was not fair to her as she had been in that school for almost a decade.It took her a while to digest the incident.It also happened a few days before a big celebration in Malaysia, Chinese New Year which she could not have a good time with her family and relatives.'I was very confused about the whole thing.I kept asking myself why did I do such a silly thing when I know it was wrong.I kept condemning myself.My parents told me it is part and parcel of life.Everyone makes mistake and what is important is to take it as a life experience and not repeat it.I am thankful to have them as my parents and to motivate me.' 3.3 Parents, Particularly Mother, Was the Most Pivotal in Helping Her Through Her Emotions 'If it was not for my mother, I would have felt very lost after the expulsion.My mother was the first to criticize me after the expulsion.'The respondent shares the incident on the day she went back home after being expelled.'When I reached home, I was very afraid to be scolded by my parents.They did not scold me but they brought me out for lunch.They spoke to me sarcastically and it made me feel lost.'She mentioned that her mother used statements like, 'Maybe you can start working as a part time worker now or you want to study at the government school near our house?'The respondent has been studying in an international school since elementary, therefore her mother used such statements.The respondent's mother who was initially sarcastic about the whole incident happened to be the one who supported her for the past one year after her expulsion.Her mother made sure she was enrolled in an another international school since she had been studying in an international school since primary one.The respondent's mother became more protective over her after the expulsion as she does not want her daughter to feel that she is not cared enough at home.The respondent's mother played the most important part in helping through her expulsion process.Psychoanalytic theorists have inspected the mother's oblivious actions, exploring her profound connection with her kids.Sigmund Freud (1963) portrayed the mother as the child's essential love object and the guardian.Mothers naturally have a strong bond with their children as they have strong maternal instincts.Erikson (1959) mentioned the importance of society in the development of a teenager since it is an 'important' time period of a teenager's life.In the case of the respondent, her mother became her role model to lead a good life as her mother is doing what is good for the respondent.'My mother keeps asking me or telling me things like, 'Are you going to give up on yourself just because you got expelled?' or 'Do you want to work as a cleaner because the school cast you out?' As stated by Erikson (1968), a person's identity will not change significantly over time, but must be reassessed and tweaked to make sure there is a positive change throughout their growing processes of a teenager.

Feels Her Expulsion Was Unfair, But Supports Zero Tolerance Policies Only for Serious Offenses Like Fights or Drug Abuses
From the time the researcher met the respondent in March and up till December, the one thing the respondent never changed her view was on being given a second chance.When the researcher asked the respondent if she deserves a second chance, the respondent states, 'I should be given a second chance as I have been studying in that school for nine years.The school should have considered that as a factor.' 'I am very much aware of the school's rules.I am not saying I am right but I think everyone deserves a second chance in any circumstances especially for students.I should have been at least alerted that I would be expelled if I repeated my act.Everything happened too fast for me to even react.There was not even a negotiation but a direct expulsion despite being begged by my parents.I do not feel my parents should be treated that way.They were not treated badly but their voices were not heard as it is stated in the rules and regulations that parents should not interfere in the school's decision and administration.Even my parents were a little disappointed that I was not given a second chance.' The respondent is very firm on her view of getting a second chance.She kept repeating that what she did was wrong but it was not critical enough for her to be expelled.Her final statement was, 'I hope the school would get a chance to hear my voice about expelling students and change their policies.'The respondent never once said that zero tolerance policy should be taken down because it is good for intolerable students.The respondent knew the school's rules and regulations are strict but she did not know it undertook zero tolerance policy whereby they do not tolerate any small misbehaviour.

Discussion
Expulsion is the most serious punishment anyone could face in their school life.The respondent accepted and took full responsibility in getting involved in a misconduct.She wished to be a better person as a daughter, student and friend.The respondent will never forget the dreadful day but it was also an experience to make her a stronger person.The respondent mentioned that talking to people about her expulsion also helped her as she became more out spoken and admitted her mistakes that she made in her previous school.
As stated by Erikson, the respondent must find an understanding between what she expected of herself and what the society expected of her.If she was able to do this, then she could enter into adulthood with a solid sense of individuality and self-confidence.Inability to do so will often cause a child to find his identity by mingling with others, participating in cliques, and sometimes becoming a rebellion.In order to avoid this from happening, the respondent's mother spent more time with her daughter in discussing issues that happened in the school.The respondent was more open to her mother compared to before the expulsion.The expulsion incident had made the bond of the mother and daughter stronger.Her mother's involvement in her education showed a positive improvement in the respondent.Researchers stated that parent-child interactions, particularly fortifying and being receptive to their children, were vital impacts on a child's academic advancement (Christian, Morrison, & Bryant, 1998;Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy, 2000).The respondent did not use her expulsion as a reason to show less interest in her studies but she was pushed by her mother to study as she always did and be a better student in the new school.The respondent did averagely in the final exam in the new school and both her parents and herself felt satisfied of her results.The respondent had seen students being expelled from the school previously but it was usually for critical misdemeanour and she always thought that the student must be a bad person.When it happened to her, her perception totally changed and she realised that she should never judge a person with what happened to them.
The expulsion had surely made the respondent more critical in her thinking as she could take the right path by not involving with the 'bad guys' after the expulsion.The respondent's personal opinion on zero tolerance policy, it was good to control the bad behaviour of students but only for serious misconduct.She defined serious misconduct were drug abuse, fighting and causing injury, bringing in dangerous weapons like knife or gun and arson.The expulsion was also unfair because she was not given a chance to plea as stated by the respondent.The school had already set their mind on expelling her per zero tolerance policy and there was nothing could be done.The respondent argued that everyone needed a second chance and being too strict increases hatred towards someone or the institution.She did not want to go back to the school again even if there was a chance since she was not given one initially.She did not hate the school or the teachers but she disliked the strict rules that did not give hope to a student who had done a misfit.Adolescent behaviours were affected by inward encounters.This implied that processes, like developmental ability, thinking or emotions can impact an adolescent.Erikson's theory demonstrated the vitality for attempting on different behaviours in the growth process from youth to adulthood.Stage 5 was one of the most complicated stages according to Erikson as an individual faced challenges in discovering himself, struggled to interact with the society and formed his sense of morality.The fifth stage was considered to be the crossroads and a lot of changes happened in the body of an individual.
The respondent developed the ability to search for her meanings and directions after the expulsion.The expulsion taught and showed her the people whom she could count on and she leaned towards them and her expulsion process was made easier.She also spent more time with them especially her parents and discussed doubts.The respondent was also able to open up with some of her friends who were willing to listen to her thoughts about the expulsion and how it had changed her to be more focused academically.The respondent's new friends and teachers did not judge her by what happened to her.

Conclusion
In conclusion, if everyone especially parents and friends give moral support and care for an expelled person, the person tends to have a positive attitude dealing with the expulsion process.The respondent managed to go through her expulsion without having much negative perception or did not prolong it as she was always given motivation by her surroundings.
Based on the findings and interpretations through codes and themes, this narrative case study recommends further research into understanding on how students experience and perceive school expulsion.More research on expelled students' experiences is needed to include students in the debate surrounding the use of exclusionary discipline.A longitudinal study that tracks the journeys of expelled students would be helpful.