I was inspired to seek a career at the Ministry of Justice after completing the ‘Prisons in Aotearoa NZ’ and ’Sexual Violence’ Criminology courses. They gave me important insights into criminal justice processes and I felt I could contribute to making positive changes in the New Zealand justice system. Now I am a Deputy Registrar at the North Shore Court in the Family/Civil team. My work with the Ministry of Justice is challenging, extremely interesting and rewarding.

Victoria University of Wellington helped me by allowing me to investigate and analyse established policy and attitudes within areas of criminology and formulate new and potentially innovative solutions to current issues. I learnt to think critically. I was able to research multiple different areas and perspectives in the criminal justice processes, which I can now apply practically in my work.

My lecturers were knowledgeable and passionate about their areas of expertise, which got me hooked on the topics. They were always available to answer questions and went above-and-beyond to help.

Wellington was a great place to live and study at a world-renowned university. I loved being able to walk everywhere and have everything at my fingertips. Wellington is the coolest little city and really caters to the student population.

I wanted to study Criminology because I am interested in justice. I wanted to learn about the relationship between the criminal justice system and our society. I chose this University because the Criminology graduates from here have an outstanding reputation.

It gave me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and allowed me to embrace my culture, joining the growing number of Maori students studying here. I am eager to learn about how I can help improve the relationship between the criminal justice system and Maori. I am passionate about gaining the skills and tools to make a difference within the justice system.

Studying Criminology at this University has taught me how to think and write critically about what we are taught. I have learnt how to think beyond the idea I am presented with. Instead of accepting what is put in front of me, I have learnt to keep researching and questioning. It has also opened my eyes to how we deal with the many different cultures here in Aotearoa and given me ideas as to how I can help those who are faced with injustices within our system.

Crime fascinates us, worries us and entertains us. It is important to understand how and why.

I wanted to be a detective when I was younger, so that I could piece clues together and figure out what had taken place. Now, I am more interested in the ways in which crime and criminals are represented to us in the news, in official reports and on TV and in the movies. How we imagine crime and criminals has a huge impact on how we respond to offenders as well as how we work out ways to prevent criminal events from happening.

Criminology helps us to think critically about how we imagine crime and criminals. I am interested in how we think about some groups of people as more criminogenic than others, how we then criminalise their activities and how we monitor the spaces they move about in.

I am also interested in how we tend to think about harms against the environment as accidents, disasters and tragedies. Are they really?