Criminal Justice: Personal Statement

I grew up in a neighborhood which is riddled with crime. Unfortunately, people who I grew up with became involved in gangs and criminal activities. Those actions led to them having a criminal record. When looking through the options of the podcast, People who are involved in the criminal justice system is the one I thought would be most interesting. The person Bradley Jacobs discusses what he does in the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES).

Before the days when I had a confident mind about what I wanted to achieve in life in order to fulfill lifelong goals, committing to a career in service to criminal justice and law had always intrigued me as a way to earn a living. In high school there was an extracurricular Criminal Justice class that I remember having a profound impact on my life. The lessons of how the structure of the system worked as well as the importance of an honest and honorable way to earn a living played to a keen and personal interest I had in the field. At the time it was a very new post-9/11 world, and departments such as Homeland Security and other federal sectors of government were on my radar as possible outlets for a potential career. The outset of my young,

As we all know – there are tons of social issues within the entire world that Criminal Justice Practitioners deal with, most likely, on a daily basis. One of the many social issues I’ve chosen is Prison Overcrowding.

The major courses of the Criminal Justice curriculum that interest me most include CJ 801 (Crime Causation, Prevention, and Control), CJ 809 (Issues in Criminal Justice), CJ 822 (Comparative Criminal Justice), CJ 823 (Globalization of Crime), CJ 847 (Global Risks, Conservation, and Criminology), CJ 855 (Delinquency Prevention and Control), CJ 866 (Adult and Juvenile Corrections Programs), and CJ 873 (Legal Issues in Criminal Justice). I will thoroughly enjoy all my subjects and apply myself fully to them with the analytical and empirical skills they require. In addition, I plan to take opportunities to be engaged in advanced Criminal Justice research, creative activities, and internships. To me, there has never been a more exciting or more important time to study the Criminal Justice program to maximize my graduate experience.

My whole life I was raised believing I would become a doctor and uplift my family out of poverty. My mother worked two jobs to fulfill that dream. My eldest brother quit high school to fulfill that dream. My eldest sister gave up her dreams of college to fulfill that dream. One by one in some way or another all 7 of my siblings had to put their dreams aside, they had to make sacrifices so that I would have a chance of surviving in this world. And for the longest time I was doing things because it was expected of me. I was set on a medical path, not because it was a passion, but because it was an obligation. I started to resent it, and I had guilt stemming from all the sacrifices 8 people made so that I would have a shot of making it. I felt

My Criminology/Criminal Justice and Africana World Studies majors as have helped me conceptualize and identify several points that helped me understand the court laws and environment. The course of Law and Everyday Life, help me identify how the law affects our rights, social and political aspects and well-being of the society. The class introduces how we as citizens of the United States must have knowledge of our basic laws and how the United States court system rationalize their statues and logic according to their concepts of belief of the constitution.

The major that I chose was Criminal Justice. I chose this major because most lawyers major in Criminal Justice. I decided to look into the Criminal Justice major at DMACC. My first semester is just going to be the basics like intro to Criminal Justice and other classes like that. My second semester is going to be about criminal investigation. My third semester is going to get more in depth than the other two semester were, and my last semester is going to be about an internship mainly. By the time that I get done, I need at least 64 credits. I knew what the courses and how many credits I needed because I have already looked into all of this.

I am an intelligent and outgoing person who is fully committed to complete my Justice Studies program in your institution if given the opportunity. Born in 1978 into a family of two Corrections Officers, My parent’s works for the Government in one of the prisons in Nigeria called Ikoyi Prison. Since I was a child, I have always been interested in following their footsteps as a Correction officer.

Criminology began to interest me once I joined the Northamptonshire Police Cadets as I was given a great insight into the role of a Police Officer. As I have matured, this interest has only grown stronger. I am very fascinated in studying criminology to continue my wish to gain a deeper and more knowledgeable understanding of how crime affects the society we live in and the causes and consequences that are associated. The means of how the human mind works, I find particularly intriguing.

There are many opportunities for success in the criminal justice career field, ranging from computing in an office to directly being faced with the nation’s toughest criminals. However, the hard part is finding out which career would be best for you based on your interests, strengths, and weaknesses. If you look hard enough there is something that can interest almost everybody, even if you do not plan to pursue it in the long run as your career. As an academic adviser I will be assessing the criminal justice career I feel is in the student’s best interest as well as the career that the student has already chosen to pursue. I will advise myself as the student and explain why the careers I have chosen fit my personality and best interests so well.

It is a long process when becoming a detective. In college, classes such as: English, American history, business law, government, psychology, sociology, chemistry, and physics are suggested. Before becoming a detective, one must attend a law enforcement academy, providing the officer with a foundation of education with sixteen to twenty-four college units in criminal justice or administration of criminal justice. (Morkes 677) After graduation from the law enforcement academy the officer undergoes job training with a field training officer for a period specified by the law enforcement agency and continues to work while on a probationary period, ranging from one to two years.

Over the last 11 months, I have had the incredible opportunity to truly observe my life choices, goals, educational experiences and attitude towards education. I entered the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program spring 2014, with a conditional acceptance. To complete the program, I was required to maintain a 3.0 GPA. I failed to do so and allowed my GPA to drop to a 2.94. Initially, I was devastated and looking for some “exception” to be made on my behalf. I could not understand how I was so close, yet too far away from my requirement. I was advised that after one (1) year, I could reapply to the program. What seemed muddy and unclear, has, overtime, become overwhelming vivid and I now understand and appreciate the time allowed

I believe criminology is the course for me because I am interested in learning about crime and criminal justice theories and also the psychological and sociological side of criminology. From a young age I first became interested in anything to do with criminology and investigative works simply by watching fictional television programmes such as Morse, Agatha Christie and Medium. The process that was taken into investigating these crimes and the way in which the Detectives solved these different cases has always fascinated me. The series ‘Silks’ particularly attracted me and it has given me an interest in pursuing a career in working possibly as a Barrister’s Clerk. Through these various programmes it has helped me to develop an interest

Crime plays a crucial role in our society, constantly affecting our behavior and how we relate to others. I’m applying to study Criminology because I want to be able to access the necessary knowledge that will support my understanding and desire to know why people commit crime, and how it affects our everyday life. Through the early stages of my adolescence years, I always found a morbid curiosity in crime. I progressively fed this interest by reading a multitude of fictional and non-fictional crime novels, such as Modus Operandi by Mauro V. Corvasce and Paglino; with which I acquired a basic knowledge on how criminals operate and the psychology behind their actions.

As stated above, as a criminal justice major, academically, I have gained the ultimate development and background of the Criminal Justice System and its practices from my Intro to Criminal Justice and Criminal Law class; how they implement the laws and apply them to crimes, offenses, and offenders. The whole concept of the criminal justice system is to uphold social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or execute sanctions for people who violate the law. Throughout my Criminal Justice courses, I found certain concepts interesting; the concepts that I found most important surrounding the Criminal Justice System were Deterrence, Rehabilitation, and Punishment. These three major factors are substantially the main functions and focus in regards to offenders. Deterrence, rehabilitation, and punishment are elements that help offenders readapt back into society so they can reestablish all of the mechanisms they need to be successful. They prevent future crime, implement reconstruction, and issue consequences. They are significant and crucial factors that the criminal justice system used to promote safety, change, and justice. Deterrence focuses on future behavior by both individuals and society. As a result of offenders receiving punishment, people will deter or discourage from committing crimes in the future. The hedonistic calculus argued that harsher punishment for committing a crime will cause pain rather than pleasure and crime would be prevented (Seiter, 2017). It is basically the concept of making the punishment outweigh the reward or pleasure. I learned that they are two kinds of deterrence which are specific and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is preventing an individual offender from repeating the same crime over in the future while general deterrence focuses on society as a whole and prevent them from committing a crime in the future (Seiter, 2017). The criminal justice system also believes that it is important to focus on the offender's attitude and behavior and tries to improve them for the can reenter into society as law-abiding citizens (Seiter, 2016). Because of my Corrections class, I learned that correctional facilities have all sort of programs the deal with drug/alcohol abuse, mental