Commentary on criminology at Cambridge

Abstract

The decision to return to student life occurred while I was working as a registrar on a general psychiatry training scheme. I had already deter mined that forensic psychiatry was for me, and one of the reasons for this was my fascination with the complex interactions between psychia try and the law. A chance conversation with a lawyer led me to the Institute of Criminology at Cambridge University. Part of the Faculty of Law. the Institute offers a Master of Philosophy Degree in Criminology as a one year, full-time, taught course. Criminology seemed to offer a unique oppor tunity to build a broad base of knowledge, with courses in such diverse subjects as The Criminal Justice System, Feminist Perspectives on Crim inology, Sentencing Theory, Police Powers, and others that would not have been easily accessible during my psychiatric training. Having decided that this was the course for me, I set about the task of applying for a place. I approached an academic at the Institute a year before starting the course to discuss my intended application and the course in general. Places are given without interview, making it important to have some direct contact with a member of the department to help them put a face to a name when the time comes to apply. Entry to the course requires the student to become a full-time member of the University, and also a member of a College. These simple requirements oblige the student to both live in or around Cambridge, and to have no other employment. Terms at Cambridge are short compared to other universities, but the majority of assessed work is set over the holiday period. The possibility of locum work during this time seems attractive, but the volume of course work precludes this. I eventually applied in December of 1994 and received my offer of a place in Spring 1995. The course in Cambridge is expensive. Course fees for the year were just over £2400(1995-96), which is comparable with other courses, but there is an additional College fee of just over £1600. Accommodation in Cambridge is not included in these fees and does not come cheap! College accommodation is the most economical option, but is still over £70per week for what is euphemistically described as a one bed-roomed flat, but is in reality little more than a bedsit with a sliding wall partitioning off the bed. I was unable to get much help with funding. The only contribution I had was of £200from a pharmaceutical company. There are grants associated with the Institute and with my college, Trinity Hall, but I was not successful in my applications for these. Funds obtained by frugal saving and many locum nights on-call paved the way for my year at Cambridge. The course started on the 2 October with the traditional 'freshers week'. This was most pecu