Why Do You Want to Study Criminal Justice
Two years ago. The body of a 6 year old girl was all over the news. Her identity had been reduced to a RIP post. I stared at her picture on my phone while reading the article over and over again, the details of the incident made me want to throw up. I just stood there, not knowing how to feel. A mixture of feelings overwhelmed me. I felt angry, sad, guilty, ashamed, disgusted but most of all, sorry. Sorry that this girl’s life had been taken at such a young age in such a horrific way. Sorry that there was nothing I could do about it. Sorry that there are others like her. The inhumane crimes that had been committed in my home country disturbed me in every way. This is why do you want to study criminal justice essay where I will farther explaine what has motivated me to study this science.
“She was raped and murdered... raped and murdered.... raped and murdered.” I couldn’t get it out of my head. This meant much more to me than just an online hashtag. I didn’t want to feel sorry for this kid for a few days and then go back to my normal life. I promised myself that I would never be a bystander. That I would stand up if I knew about an injustice. Even if I would be the only one standing up or one in a million. Because anyone could become this girl. Powerless, tortured and stripped of their worth.
I started doing research on the case. I wanted to know who could possibly do such a thing to another human, especially a child. I wanted to know why, how and what motives would anyone have against an innocent young child. There were things I came across that I wish weren’t true- there were more victims. She wasn’t the only one. I soon realised that one thing these crimes have in common is that our justice system has failed many of the victims. The number of case studies I found for crimes in the second half of the twentieth and the twenty-first century horrified me. I could not understand how the world would just look away. Had we not learned from all the cases so far? Apparently not.
In the process of my research, I came across many shocking and horrifying information that made me want to look away. It is hard to look at, but looking away is dangerous- it makes us believe that the environment we live in is everyone’s normal environment. One, the said suspect and person caught were two different people if you look at the footage closely. Two, there are theories that this whole case might’ve been an inside job and the team investigating were covering it up, hence why they based the suspect on poor evidence and didn’t bother investigating further. Three, if the theories are true, that would mean the actual criminal is still roaming around free. Just the thought of that sends shivers down my spine. I was hugely disappointed in how our investigation team dealt with the whole case. They made murder and rape look like a joke.
Although I did not personally know her or any of the victims, I still felt personally attacked, as a girl myself from the same country. It still hurts after all this time even after the supposed criminal was killed, I don’t think it will ever stop hurting. This is why I want to study Criminal Justice. I want to make it right. I want to be able to make a change to the situation of the people whose voices are not heard. ‘I did not look away. I learned.’
