Pengurusan Institusi Penjara: Peranan dan Implikasi Komunikasi Pegawai-Subordinat

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Initial study concerning the quality of the leader-member relationship (LMX) placed more emphasis on the subordinates’ perspective resulting in a need to conduct a thorough research relating to aspects in the context of a dyadic relationship. Dyadic relationship is important in the context of the effect of work stress experienced by staff in a department such as the Prison Department. This is because working in the Prison Department is said to be one of the most stressful careers due to the ills of the prison inmates, rise in civil summons, conflicts and so on. In connection to that, this study is done aiming to identify the relationship between superior-subordinate communication, relationship quality, and work stress in the Malaysian Prison Department. This study applied a quantitative design and data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires. Leader-member relationship quality was measured based on a questionnaire developed by Liden and Maslyn (1998), research questionnaires from Miles et al. (1996) were used in measuring the superior-subordinate communication, while work stress was measured using a scale presented by Senol-Durak, Durak, and Gencoz (2006). Selected respondents consisted of a total of 447 employees from eight prison institutions in Malaysia. The respondents’ selection was done randomly. The sample consisted of officers ranked from Prison Superintendent to Prison Warden. The statistical analysis used was the Pearson Correlation. Findings of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between superior-subordinate communication and the quality of relationship. The study results also showed a significant relationship between superior-subordinate communication and work stress. On the other hand, the study also showed that there is no relationship between work stress and the quality of relationship. This study contributes towards strengthening the theory related to the quality of leader-member relationships and policies related to communication practices in the Malaysian Prison Department.