Bringing a Uniform Home: a Qualitative Study on Police Officer’s Work-Family Balance Perspective

Being a police officer is a very stressful job, characterized by occupational stressors that impact mental health and increasing work-family balance. Quantitative research is unable to clarify how police officers cope with the impact of work challenges on work-family balance. This study aims to understand how police officers narrate the impact of their work on their family experiences. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with Portuguese military police and civilian service forces working in the Northern region of Portugal. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the principles of thematic analysis. The main themes indicate that participants are concerned about the work-family conflict. Both common and unique police officers’ perceptions of the impact of professional challenges on work-family balance emerged among both groups. Common work-family balance challenges for both civilian and military police officers included a negative impact on family dynamics and the sharing work experiences with family, but also recognized positive impacts of the profession on the family. For military police officers, making decisions regarding career advancement is a specific challenge. This study enables clinicians and other professional groups, such as commanders and politicians, to further develop a deeper understanding of these challenges and their different levels of impact. It also allows for the development of targeted strategies aligned with the unique needs of these professionals.