The Reasons Why I Want to Study Criminology at University

What drives criminals to do what they do? Do environmental factors have a big impact? And are the police good enough at reporting it clearly for the rest of society to understand criminals and crime in their own communities fully? These questions are the reason I want to study criminology at university. I have always had a fascination with how society treats criminals and what causes people to commit such acts in the first place. This passion grew from a visit to the Royal Courts of Justice with my primary school, when I was just eleven years old.

Another school trip to Germany and a visit to a concentration camp left me wondering how one human could commit such a heinous act to their fellow man? Was it pure evil that drove them to commit these horrors or was it careerism and a selfish instinct to help themselves. A love for documentaries also resulted in me finding dozens of examples of crimes that I just couldn’t wrap my head around the reasoning behind them. A particular story that left me questioning what warped thinking could have led to it was the Collar Bomb Heist that occurred in 2003. How could a person strap a bomb to another one and then lead them on a twisted treasure hunt to be able to continue on living.

My studies in A Level History, particularly in my coursework has allowed me to develop my critical thinking, whilst also considering different points of view and using evidence to back up my opinion. In my both History and my other A Level subjects, Spanish and English Literature I have enhanced my research skills and being able to use a variety of different sources to support my own view. My English A Level has also allowed me to adjust to using Harvard referencing in my essays to allow credit to be given to ideas where it is due. Teamwork is crucial not only in the academic area of criminology, where ideas need to be shared in order to be tested, talked about, questioned and improved but also in a wider context. I had to collaborate with my team when completing my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award, where without our combined effort we would have been stuck in a darkening forest with rain starting to fall. I further developed my teamwork skills through a part time job in McDonalds in sixth form, where we had to work together if we wanted to get orders out and help the restaurant be efficient as possible.

Having volunteered at Greenwich and Bexley Hospice shop in my local high street for over a year, I heard various stories from my managers about jewelry and clothes getting stolen. It left me wondering how someone could steal from a charity when the people in question appeared to have enough money to purchase these or better items legally. As well as this I also improved my interpersonal skills and being able to communicate with people of all kinds of different backgrounds, which I feel is important for the kind of social related work that criminology will lead me to after I finish my degree.