Law and Psychology Personal Statement Example

An effective law is foundational to an effective and safe society, and to this end, law is important to us all. The law, at its heart, creates order, and ensures vulnerable people are protected.

Most people have real respect for the law, and law and order are often what people in corrupt nations most crave.

My interests lie not only with the function of law, and what makes a just law, but why individuals break it, especially when in doing so they cause real harm to another person. Why do individuals believe that they are above the law, and what is the best way of treating such people?

I have a good foundational knowledge of law having studied it at AS level. I particularly enjoyed studying criminal law and tort law, and these topics I'm looking forward to studying again at degree level.

These areas of law address criminal behaviour and negligence and in some cases in tort, individuals didn't intentionally try to break the law.

This leads to an interesting debate about whether these individuals should be treated the same of those whose illegal actions were deliberate. I have found that psychology and law link very well.

Within psychology I have particularly enjoyed learning about reasons for individual differences in aggression - biological and social, and have found myself naturally applying this to criminality.

I enjoy trying to apply my knowledge of the law in order to understand current affairs.

The recent riots in London really sparked my interest; how was it possible that so many people, at one time, felt that they could commit crimes? At the time it appeared to me that the law has been completely disregarded, that a significant proportion of the population had no fear of breaking it.

Obviously such an event caused widespread fear and outrage, and it was inevitable that those rioters who were caught received particularly harsh punishments. I found I was able to apply my knowledge from psychology to the riots.

Clearly the theory of deindividuation applied, with those involved feeling anonymous and responsibility spread out among a large number of group members. My A- Level subjects have all been beneficial for me in times of learning new skills and developing existing important ones.

History has improved my essay writing skills and ability to write a balanced and well-constructed argument. I have also been able to explore issues related to law such as international justice, and the differing attitudes to law displayed by different political regimes.

It is also interesting to consider past dictators like Stalin and Hitler, who had so much power the law no longer applied to them.

To me it is important that our leaders are never above the law, and lead by example in terms of following it. English Literature has made me more skilful in analysing a point of view and backing up my point of view with textual evidence and quotes.

My interests include music, reading and writing. Over the summer holidays I particularly enjoyed reading Malorie Blackman's books "Noughts & Crosses."

This story depicted unequal opportunities between races, but in this case black people (crosses) were superior to white people (noughts). It was interesting exploring this idea of a reversal of the civil rights movement where people wanted equality before the law.

Going to university is an experience that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I enjoy learning, have good independent study skills and believe I have the skills necessary to be a real success.

Law and psychology are two subjects I have a real interest in, and I believe through studying them at degree level, many opportunities will be opened up for me.