Cassandra Kaake And The Psychoanalytic The General Theory Of Crime

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The news of a break-in that left a Windsor woman dead made the headlines on December 11 2014. She was later identified as 31 years old Cassandra Kaake, a 7 ½ months pregnant expectant (CBC News 2017a). During the investigation, the crime unit identified her murderer as 28 years old Matthew Brush from LaSalle, Ontario (Windsor Star 2017). Upon further investigation, it was revealed that on the night of December 10 2014, Brush broke into Kaake’s home with the intent to steal her underwears and masturbate, an obsession he’s had since his teen years (CBC News 2017a). The perpetrator's lack of self control over his obsession and his actions following his discovery lead to the loss of this young soul. The General Theory of Crime and the Psychoanalytic …show more content…

Essentially, this theory suggests that crimes and other comparable acts occur due to the lack of self-control (O’Grady 2014, 117-118). Thus, low self-control and criminal opportunity makes way for criminal acts (Broll, 2017). Moreover, the theory suggests that individuals lacking self-control are self-centered, risk-takers, impulsive and lack perseverance (O’Grady 2014, 118). According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, self-control is established early in life (O’Grady 2014, 118). An individual’s degree of self-control is influenced by the quality of parenting during childhood (O’Grady 2014, 118). For instance, children possessing caring, supervising and disciplinary parents are more likely to develop self-control, whereas children possessing abusive and neglectful parents are less likely to develop self-control and tend to become like their parents (O’Grady 2014, 118). Thus, this theory argues that the foundation of self-control lies on …show more content…

Brush’s lack of self-control for underwear led to several break-ins since his adolescence years (CBS News 2017a). Moreover, his lack of self-control for Cassandra made her his anchor. Brush was obsessed with her and was capable of going to extreme extents. He produced a spare key using a key he stole from his best friend, the victim's younger brother (CBC News 2017a). In addition, he was aware of her work schedule and her overall daily routine (CBC News 2017a). In Kaake’s case he remained at her home during her absence and returned back to LaSalle prior to her return (CBC News 2017a). The General Theory of Crime proves that his lack of self-control rendered by ineffective parenting lead to this tragedy. Matthew is an individual who is excessively preoccupied with his own interest. His self-centeredness promotes is involvement in risky tasks and activities. Due to his risk-taking nature, he was capable of breaking and entering homes from a young age and in Cassandra’s case remain in her home to fulfill his desire. In addition, his impulsiveness is seen when his urge to eradicate evidence overpowered his mind. The source of his low self-control is ineffective parenting. Matthew’s long term obsession was hidden from his parents until Cassandra’s death. His capability to hide such a secret and the numerous breaks in from his parents reveals that his parents failed their roles as

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