The Assessment of the Quality of Life Among Female Prisoners in Aceh Besar

Living in a prison has a huge impact on the quality of life (QoL) and mental health, particularly for women. However, the study examined women’s QoL in a prison are limited particularly in developing countries, including Indonesia. The majority of women imprisoned in Aceh are due drugs courier, theft, fraud, corruption. Without a better understanding its determinants, it is difficult to deliver an effective and specific program to improve the QoL of women in a prison. This study aimed to analyse the quality of life of female prisoners and their determinants in the Class II B Prison of Lhoknga District, Aceh. Total population of 52 female prisoners was selected for the purpose of this study. Data were collected through interviews using the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) instrument which consist of 129 Likert questions. The analysis was conducted using a simple and multiple logistic regression test. The average age of respondents 36 years with 20% have a lower educational level and the range have been in the prison from 1 month to almost 10 years. More than half of respondents were marriage women. Approximately 52% were in lower level of spirituality. Study found some of 42.3% of them also in lower category of QoL. The analysis showed no significant relationship (p>0.05) between age, education, duration of punishment and marital status to QoL. The Multivariate analysis showed that the level of spirituality is strongly associated with the QoL of female prisoners (p=0.012).This study suggested that spiritual aspects is contribution in raising the quality of life female prisoners encourage them to practise their faith.