I'll try keep this as short as possible. I want to hopefully do Criminology at university next year but I have to finish this personal statement as soon as possible in order to apply. They say it is on of the hardest things to do, write about yourself, and I now understand why! It's pretty difficult. Everyone is advised to get as many people to look at their statement in order to gain advice and all. Soooo, I am hoping that I get some feedback off here too (For all I know their could be an Criminology professor on this site)
I haven't finished it but here it is so far...
"Ever since a young age I have often asked myself questions such as, why do people commit crime? What drives murderers to kill? Is the medias portrayal of crime accurate? It was these type of enquires that first triggered my interest in Criminology.
The passionate desire I possess for analyzing and understanding people's behavior and logic has been apparent since my early adolescence. It was around the time I was 12/13 years old I first remember watching the news reporting the Amanda Knox trial. Since then my interest in criminology continued to grow. I found myself regularly reading newspaper articles and stories online about different crimes and criminal activity from around the world. More recently, I would spend hours on the internet keeping up to date, watching live streams of the “Jodi Arias trial”. What fascinated me most was how people can commit these crimes but also how detectives & police investigating those crimes can solve them using the most minor details to help them.
Modules that particularly fascinate me include gender and crime, prison & punishment, crime prevention and crime, media & culture. Studying these topics would allow me to delve deeper into the many issues raised within criminology such as, why is it that males committed the vast majority of homicides in the United Sates, representing 90% of the total number of offenders? By studying criminology I hope to broaden my knowledge and potentially pursue a career in which I will be able to help society in a positive way.
Having studied Psychology, Philosophy & Ethics and Art at A-level has given me skills that I believe would benefit me in a Criminology degree. All of these subjects required a great deal of independent reading and research, particularly in Philosophy & Ethics. This subject also helped enhance my debating skills and forced me to look at arguments from another’s point of view, which may be a useful skill when attempting to understand a criminals mind. In Art, it required a lot of thinking outside the box and creativity which will come in hand in criminology as I may have to look at things from a different perspective, for instance looking at a criminals alternative motives. As Criminology implies Psychology, I always had a desire to study this fascinating subject. Studying Psychology has allowed me to investigate different aspects of human behaviour and has given me a greater insight to the brain and how society can influence the way we act. Reading up on studies such as the “The Stanford Prison Experiment” by Zimbardo and Milgram’s study on obedience opened my eyes and demonstrated just how great an effect the environment has on an individual’s behaviour.
During my time in sixth form I have also completed a two week’s work experience placement at a local community boxing gym where I worked alongside the coaches and the welfare officer to help set up programs and monitor the kid’s behaviour. This opportunity allowed me to interact with the youths of today and help them focus on a sport which essentially kept them off the streets and committing crime. In addition to this I also completed a one week’s work experience at an engineering factory. Working at the factory enabled me to gain a lot of skills that I believe would benefit me at university including communication skills, team building, time management and meeting deadlines."
It's pretty long and cheesy so I understand if people don't want to bother reading it but if anybody actually does please give me any feedback at all.