Criminology Personal Statement

I visited the National Forensic Institute in Bucharest where the administrator explained to me that it is
crucial to consider the background of a criminal including the socio-economic factors that influence
people to turn to crime to fully understand criminality. I therefore wish to study this course due to the
interest that I possess for exploring the continual debates regarding the nature of crime and the social
factors determining people to pursue such a life.

Studying Forensic Psychology within A-Level Psychology offered me the opportunity of broadening my
knowledge of the social aspects of crime. I came across criminologists such as Farrington, who suggests
that predictors like low family income mark out offenders from law-abiding people and Wikström,
whose research showed spending time in crimogenic areas is a major factor in offending. Providing
welfare could reduce family poverty and hopefully fewer people would turn to crime. Offering education
to people from lower social classes could deal with low intelligence and tackling the causes of disrupted
families and presenting alternatives, the number of people turning to crime would reduce. Studying A-
Level Philosophy and Ethics gave me an insight into how morality can be associated with crime. St.
Thomas Aquinas wrote of conscience as our natural ability to understand the difference between right
and wrong, arguing that one must always follow their conscience even if they are wrong, because if the
intention is mistaken, they cannot be guilty of sinning. This can provide a justification for some criminals:
they do not intend to cause harm but improve their socio-economic situation.

I realise knowledge of contemporary explanations of criminality is necessary to understand crime. I

found Aronson's ''The Social Animal'' helpful in explaining the social causes of aggression, emphasising
that hostile aggression is commonly expressed through the violent behavior of criminals intending to
cause harm, referring to a Freudian notion of aggression needing to be allowed to drain off within
society. I disagree as restorative justice is a good approach to dealing with crime, involving the
offenders taking responsibility for their actions and understanding why they were wrong. ''The
Innocence Project'', an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people in America,
states that most of the wrongfully convicted in the South in the 1980s were Hispanic or African-
American, suggesting the American criminal justice system is ethnocentric. Any such institution should
convict people through the proper application of the law and not by social issues such as race.
Controversially, the North Korean criminal justice system is very draconian, refusing the principles of
modern criminal justice that state there is no crime unless so specified by the law and that the law may
not be applied retroactively, applying the capital punishment to crimes like ''treason against the
Motherland''. This shows that the North Korean approach to crime has not evolved much since the 20th
Century, thus not being able to be compatible with modern criminal justice principles.

Volunteering at the Community Service Complex ''Orizont'' in Romania, I looked after children
abandoned by their family due to poor financial means. This has taught me what it is to work in an
environment uncommon to me with people who may think differently and respect other peoples'
viewpoints. Equally, as a drummer, I participated in many rock musical events and ensembles, the most
rewarding experience being working with other people as in this way I learned the importance of co-
operation, especially if I may become interested in pursuing a career as a social worker.

I thus consider myself an open-minded and hardworking person and I wish to enroll myself into this
course to ultimately help me pursue my aspirations of working in the field of criminology and
understand the contemporary social issues surrounding crime.