Work-personal life interaction of Afrikaans speaking police officers : a phenomenological study

Abstract

Effectiveness, productivity and motivation of police members are important factors that contribute to a country's stability, economic growth and development. As such, understanding experiences that police members might have with regard to the relationship between their work and personal life is the main focus area in this study. The objectives of this study were to determine how Afrikaans speaking police members experience work-personal life interaction, and secondly, to determine the main dimensions in the lives of Afrikaans speaking police members that is in interaction with each other, and thirdly, to determine the major antecedents and consequences of work-personal life for Afrikaans speaking police members, and fourthly, to determine which strategies Afrikaans speaking police members use to deal with work-personal life issues. Unstructured interviews were conducted with ten males and females in the police stations based in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp areas. Qualitative interviews based on the phenomenological paradigm, were used to determine police officers perception regarding work and personal life interaction. A Content analysis was used to analyse, quantify and interpret the research data. Police members reported experiencing their work as stressful, in that it interfered negatively with their lives and also had certain health implications. They further experienced some aspects in their personal lives (e.g., household duties, family responsibilities) interfering with their work. Furthermore, they reported using certain strategies (e.g., communication, support from a spouse) as a way of bettering the interaction between their work and personal lives.