Criminal Justice Personal Statement

The criminal justice field has careers that provide an individual with great rewards and significant opportunities to an extent that the profession is considered as one with the bright spots in employment. Even though education in this field has had a checkered history and past, it probably has a bright future because of the increased quest for quality in criminal justice education. In the past few years, the criminal justice field has been characterized with an agenda that seeks to ensure quality while significantly extending the scope and dept of education in this profession. Consequently, few people would disagree with the fact that solid education has become an important facet of any career in this field just like other professions. However, the importance of college education and the extent of needed schooling are huge concerns for people considering criminal justice careers.

I am applying for the Juvenile Detention Officer position at the Juvenile Division of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD). I discovered this position through online job search via monster.com. I recently graduated from the University of Washington Bothell, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Psychology and minors in Human Rights and Diversity Studies. This position grabbed my attention because I’m passionate about motivating youth to change by helping them access the resources they need.

Please accept this personal statement as a part of my application for the doctoral program in criminal justice starting the fall semester of 2016. The University of Southern Mississippi is my ideal location for the achievement of a doctoral degree. I would like to demonstrate my knowledge, experience, and research ability in the field of criminal justice and correctional studies. Having majored in the discipline as a former graduate student, I want to further my education to assist and promote future changes in criminal justice and correctional policy. I am looking forward to the opportunities your program has to offer and I believe my background and perspective in criminal justice will help enrich the program, as well.

From since I was a young child I have always wanted to go into the field of Human Services. As I have grown I have decided that I would go into the Criminal Justice side of Human Services. By this I mean that I still want to help people, but I want to help people who have become criminals or who are on the path of becoming criminals. I especially want to help children and teens who have been in and out of a Juvenal Detention Center. From this passion I have decided that I want to go into one of three careers. These careers are as follows; Juvenile Defense Attorneys, Juvenile Counselor, or Juvenile Corrections Officer.

Following my graduation from college I returned home, where I was able to find a job working with delinquent and abuse/neglect youth, with Forestland Group Homes Inc located in Caspian Michigan. This job allowed me to use the knowledge I gained from college working initially as a direct care staff and later as the Program

As a child, I always wanted a career enforcing the law. Weather it was with the police department or criminal justice was undecided at that time. As I grew older I pulled more to the fence of criminal justice. Simply because I do not like the way the system is set up.

To work in the field of criminal justice, whether with rehabilitating offenders or in research analysis, has always been a goal of mine stemming from the beginning of my undergraduate studies at Lakeland University. It is in the Reentry Unit of the Department of Corrections, that there is the emphasis to work with offenders in order to reduce recidivism with the focus of providing support in educational programming, skill building, and goal planning to prepare offenders for community reintegration. Overall, the Reentry Unit of correctional system is an integral portion that provides a pathway for offenders to reintegrate.

When I entered Loyola University Chicago in the fall on 2017, I still felt understandably unsure as to what both my academic and my professional future might hold for me. After two semesters of exploring my interests and growing more confident in my abilities, I feel very secure in what the future may hold.

Coming into Westfield I was convince that criminal justice was the major for me. Starting off my freshmen year I took an intro to criminal justice class and it was that class that made me realized criminal justice wasn’t for me. Once I dropped criminal justice I became undeclared I kept taking class in different area studies to see if I enjoyed any type of major. It was hard on me at first because I struggled so much trying to find a major that I truly thought was good for me.

During the course of my undergraduate work I spent a good deal of time considering exactly what I wished to do after I received my Associate of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and my Bachelor of Science degree in Justice Studies. Ever since I was a child I have had an interest in law enforcement in some way or another. Having spent a good deal of my childhood fishing and hiking I was always interested in environmental conservation, so with that in mind I always had an interest in becoming a game warden or a forest ranger. As time has gone on I still hold on to the ideas and the ideals that I held when I was younger, but now I also would consider a career in a federal law enforcement organization such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), or the like. Ultimately I

My current plan for graduate study is to acquire a Master’s degree focusing on the fields of “Corrections, Reentry, and Restorative Justice” and “Violence Prevention and Control.” The areas of Criminal Justice program I am interested in are varied at this moment, but I expect to develop a deeper understanding of my options through the course of my continued education. During my undergraduate years, I was able to vastly improve my leadership and interpersonal skills working with the help of a variety of excellent students. Besides a summer internship at the USA Treasury Department (Washington DC, 2015 Summer) to fulfill a deeper understanding of the potential economic crimes, I also completed a few of fundamental and mid-level courses to enrich my professional knowledge which include Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Procedure, Policing, Juvenile Justice, Comparative and Historical Criminal Justice, and Social Problems.

I had the opportunity on Friday, February 10th, 2017 to visit with Samantha Sanchez, a professional from the Kansas Children’s Service League regarding their Oasis program. The Oasis program works to serve youth, ages 10-17, that are either at risk for running away or have already run away from home. Sanchez is a case manager through KCSL and works with families and youth to prevent run-aways and build strong families. Before working at KCSL, Samantha completed a degree in psychology and had every intention of working in the field of family and children psychology. While applying for jobs after graduation, her application landed on Amber’s, her current supervisor’s, desk. Although it was not her original intended career, Samantha assured me that KCSL’s Oasis program is her home.

When registration time rolled around in fall 2015, I only needed 12 hours to graduate in May; however, I knew I would be bored and yearned for a class that was meaningful and would end my college career on a positive note. When Dr. May mentioned the mentoring at-risk youth class I was hooked. Although he tried to talk everybody out of it, I knew that this was going to be a perfect fit for me. I have always enjoyed working with youth, whether it was through coaching cheerleading, volunteering in the local elementary school, or spending afternoons at a halfway house for abused and neglected children. By signing up for the mentoring program I was able to try something I had never tried before— using my love for youth to create a lifelong one-on-one

As someone who has attended online school since 2008, I would like to think I enjoy learning about things within the Criminal Justice field. Initially when I started this educational journey, I took classes in something that interested me, not so much in terms of what I wanted to do with the degree once completed. See, I had plans to stay in the military for the full twenty, however life had other plans for me. Having a child and being in the military are tough commitments to have when combined, so I decided to go for the family life instead. So, here I am about to graduate from a school I have been going to for 7 years, achieved an Associates as well as a Bachelors and want to continue on with a Masters; unfortunately the school does not offer

Personally, I want to be a Juvenile Probation Officer, but I am willing to settle for an adult probation officer at this time too. I have worked for the county government for a year and a half, within the last year and a half they have hired for a juvenile probation officer once. I know it’s a hard position to get into, that is why I am okay with settling for an adult probation officer.