My Interest In Studying Criminology Course
My interest in criminology predominantly derives from its sheer importance in society: as a community, we thoroughly rely on the criminal justice system to bring about justice for victims or sometimes the defendants. A very fascinating part of the law system in the UK is how over the years the law has developed, including changes in technology, morals and progressing society. My initial curiosity with criminology was mostly stimulated by the media, the questions of Why do people do such terrible things? Are you born a criminal?, inspired me to further my views on crime. Asking questions such as, Is there such a thing as a stereotypical murderer? What're the psychological differences in criminals? Even though there is no set-out answer to those questions it lead to avid viewing of a variety of crime-related documentaries as well as the news. One particular crime story that started off my journey into criminology was the 2015 case of Becky Watts, who was murdered in Bristol at the age of 16 by her step-brother and his girlfriend. I think this case sparked my interest because of its proximity to me, being 13 at the time it really challenged my views on criminals and who could be one. Especially looking back on it now it still challenges the stereotype that there is a set-out view of what a criminal looks like. This allowed me to explore the idea that criminals do in fact walk amongst us and we might never be aware of it, this exploration definitely prompted me into furthering my education on crime when it came to selecting my A-Levels. Studying Law, History and Psychology has allowed me to look at criminology from different aspects, the legal side and the psychological side. It has also allowed me to gain knowledge on how to break down and analyse crime cases and point out where specific points of law are used yet still keeping an open mind to the possibilities. This has allowed me to be adaptive according to the situation given. One thing I have learnt in my law and psychology lessons is to always take everything into account, humans are unpredictable and sometimes our actions can be justified, it is, therefore, important to examine everything that is given when dealing with criminals: the offence, the victim, the defendant, possible defences. Every aspect of the crime should be a key feature in deciding the verdict to avoid victim or defendant bias.
Since a very young age, I have been very enthusiastic about reading, one of my favourite novels has been 'Stalked' by Kate Brennan. Brennan's experiences with a criminal/stalker opened my horizons into understanding the psychological damage a stalker can have on a victim and how much it affects the victim's personal life. The book shows a struggle to survive and the losing of one's mind in their own body.
Over the past two years, I have worked in a local Chinese restaurant. I have developed many transferable skills including customer service, communication, time management and the ability to deal with more hostile customers. Such experiences have empowered me to step out of my comfort zone and evolve my personality to be more confident as well as still being a very understanding and adaptive person. My work has also allowed me to be more involved in my community.
Growing up in England as a Polish child led me to have a diverse range of friends from multi-racial backgrounds, even though my personal upbringing was not surrounded by tonnes of stereotypes on race and individuals, I experienced a variety of discrimination through my friendship groups. I hope that this course will allow me to portray my passion for breaking down stereotypes, especially to stop the pinning down of crimes to people of colour, with intentions to hopefully abolish this idea of a correlation/relationship between race and crime that has been drilled into our brains. I hope that my experiences, knowledge and enthusiasm to constantly learn new things in criminology would allow me to be successful in this course.
