Criminology Personal Statement

My desire for a career in law enforcement started while pursuing my undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida. As a freshman biology major with hopes of becoming a Radiologist, it did not take me long to realize the medical field was not for me. Peers in my classes had a passion and interest for the material that I did not possess. My grades poorly reflected the type of student I was. Realizing it was time for a change, at the end of my sophomore year I started seeking guidance. Unbeknownst to me, my disinterest in the curriculum was a major contribution to my poor performance. I completed career assessments and sat with academic counselors in several different areas of study. I was feeling more confused than ever because Criminal Justice courses often sparked my interest, but I hesitated due to the dangerous nature of police work.

Careers based around criminology play an essential part in everyday society, both protecting and stabilising communities and all who reside in them, and over the past few years it has become apparent to me that this is a subject I find both intriguing and compelling. My interest in the subject first developed in late childhood when I became fascinated with programmes such as Scott and Bailey, which look at crime prevention and the effect crime has on society. After spending a week of work experience with the MOD police based at DSTL at Porton Down, my passion for working within this field developed further, leading to a desire to understand why criminals act the way they do. This is ultimately what has led me to apply for the Criminology course. My A levels have helped me to develop my essay writing and analytical ability, focusing on investigating theories and texts and drawing my own conclusions from them.

y work and personal experiences have influenced my decision to go back to college and my degree choice greatly. I would like to attain my degree in Criminal Justice to further my goals in the career I have already begun. Having over 8 years of experience in the youth correctional field, I am confident in my decision to further my education in criminal justice. I started working for the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC) in 2007 as an Administrative Assistant and through training and dedication to the victims I served, became a Certified Victim Advocate through the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance. Part of my responsibilities included assisting victims through the critical stages of the adjudication process. I attended court hearings,

To prevent crime, it is imperative that the law enforcement agencies and scholars examine why people commit crime. A number of theories have emerged and many still continue to be explored in exclusion and in combination to seek the best solutions that can ultimately reduce the types and the levels of crime. One such theory that is still being explored is social disorganization theory. According to this theory people's tendency to take part in criminal activities is largely determined by the neighborhood where they are brought up in especially if conditions favorable to crime and delinquency prevail in such places. When communities becomes incapable of realizing common goals and solve problems that its residents face, there is a high likelihood that its residents will engage in criminal activities (Sampson & Grove, 1989). Some of the problems that are likely to increase incidences of crime in neighborhoods when communities fail to address them are poverty, residential mobility, ethnic heterogeneity, and weak social networks. They decrease a neighborhood's capacity to control the behavior of people in public.

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.

The purpose and intention of the research is to determine whether having a criminal justice degree benefit those that graduate within that field. In addition, future criminal justice graduates will have a sense of where their career path will lead to. Experts also examine if having a criminal justice degree is necessary for individuals to become police officers, correctional officers, or probation and parole officers. This research was published by the International journal of Criminal Justice Sciences in December of 2013. The authors thesis is that the individual perceptions of criminal justice and criminology majors are important because the data reveal can and will assist and better

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.

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

Receiving a Master’s degree has always been on my list of goals and criminal justice has always been one of my peak interests. I am currently employed as a caseworker at the York County Assistance Office. I have been employed through state for the last three years and recently have been promoted to a caseworker position. While searching for a criminal justice online program, I came across different colleges and universities. Saint Joseph University has become my top pick.

When I decided to attend law school to pursue my life’s mission of working as attorney providing representation to those who lack adequate representation and have been wrongfully accused or wrongfully convicted studying law, I compiled a list of qualities that I was seeking in a law school. These included the ability for me to continue my involvement in Mock Trial/Moot Court hand-on learning experience, working in a Criminal Defense or Innocence Project clinic, becoming a member of the law review, and taking courses that focused on criminal procedure and causes of wrongful convictions. West Virginia Law embodies each and every one of these qualities. I hopeful during my studies at West Virginia Law that I will have the opportunity to take the Crime Film Documentaries course taught this fall by Professor Elkins and the Psychology for Lawyers course taught by Professor Elkins this past spring. I am especially intrigued by the focus of the documentaries course on the “shadow” cast on our criminal justice system due to faulty police investigations,

I have decided to take this summer course in Criminal Justice because I’ve always has a strong interest in the subject. My interest in the criminal justice field began when I was about eight years old. This interest stemmed from my strong liking of the television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The show made me want to have a career in the criminal justice field. As I’ve aged, my desire of having a career in the criminal justice field has decreased, yet,

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

Criminology first appealed to me during a mental health lecture. My tutor at the time was discussing the statistics of UK prisoners with a mental health condition. I found myself deeply saddened but also curious as to what I could do to help. I found myself wanting to know more. Does their mental illness cause them to commit crime?

Figuring out why people commit crimes is one of the central concerns of criminology. Do most criminals act rationally after weighing the costs of crime? Is society ever to blame for an individual to commit a crime? Do mental diseases or even genetics factor into whether a person will live a life of crime. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to answer these questions. In fact, the number of theories of why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. I explore these questions and much more in the paper that follow.

My ambition has always been to work in Criminology. I am applying for this course as crime, criminal justice, law and the psychology behind why people commit crimes has interested me since early childhood. Working within criminology requires a wide range of skills that include dedication, reliability, concentration and the ability to remain professional and I believe that I posses these skills.