Quarter-Life Crises of Police Officers in Baguio City Police Office

Abstract

Not all heroes wear capes. You can see some of them in police uniforms, managing the traffic flows, maintaining peace and order, and protecting the innocent lives of everyone. However, our modern heroes also had to deal with struggles to develop stronger and better characters. This paper deals with the findings on the professional crises experienced by the Baguio City Police Officers. The study’s main objective is to explore the quarter-life crises of Police Officers in Baguio City Police Office and how it affects their work performance. This study has used a qualitative research method through an interpretative phenomenological research design. The key informants of this research were twenty (20) police officers aged 25-30 years old in Baguio City Police Station. The major instrument used for data collection was an interview guide. Using the axial coding technique, the related data revealed codes, categories, and subcategories grounded within the participants’ experiences. The findings revealed that the professional crises experienced by police officers include organizational workload, lack of work-life balance, conflict of ideas, superiority complex, police-citizen encounters, and financial problems. Moreover, the above-mentioned have led them to low morale, low self-esteem, mental strain, weakened police-community ties, career disappointment, poor work performance, and inconsistent sleeping and eating routines.