The Roles of Prison Climate and Social Support in Promoting Malaysian

Inmate’s Life Satisfaction

The Civilized Humane Culture Development Centre (CHCDC) implemented in the

Malaysian Prison Department will embody the essence of the Malaysia Madani
concept. CHCDC is an initiative to improve the self-management of inmates,
eliminate criminal thinking, and encourage the commitment of staff, inmates, and the
community toward a comprehensive rehabilitation process. One of the vital elements
for the implementation is social support, which is connected with prison climate and
life satisfaction. Previous studies have proven that prison climate and social support
contribute significantly to inmates' life satisfaction. Therefore, this study aims to
determine the importance of social support in the relationship between prison climate
and life satisfaction. This study applied a quantitative research design, collecting data
in a cross-sectional survey. A total of 345 Malaysian inmates were involved in this
study. Respondents are selected based on a simple random sampling technique using
a sampling framework. Structural equation modeling (SEM) tests the proposed model
and research hypotheses by applying IBM SPSS AMOS 25. The findings prove that
social support plays a full mediator role in the relationship between prison climate
and life satisfaction among Malaysian inmates. Based on the study's results, it is
suggested that the Malaysian Prisons Department formulate appropriate policies and
strategies to improve prison climate and social support to meet the inmates' life
satisfaction. This situation is in line with the government's Malaysia Madani
aspiration to solve the problems faced by the people and create a better nation.