Abnormal Psychology of Dexter Morgan

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Brett Brockel PSY3604 Paper 1 Dexter Morgan The critically acclaimed Showtime series Dexter, takes the viewer inside the mind of Dexter Morgan. Dexter works as a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, yet moonlights as a vigilante serial killer. Dexter has no memories of his biological family, aside from his mother being brutally murdered in front of he and his brother when they were very young. Most of Dexter’s memories begin to manifest from the moment that his stepfather, Harry Morgan, who is a police officer for Miami Police Department, finds and rescues him from that crime scene and eventually adopted him. From the moment Harry took Dexter in he noticed his lack of normal emotion and feeling which led him to suspect that Dexter had been permanently damaged from his traumatic experience. This suspicion was confirmed when Harry discovered a collection of buried animal bones in the back yard shortly before Dexter’s teenage years. However, instead of seeing Dexter’s bloodlust as an enigma, Harry takes Dexter under his wing and develops a way to control Dexter’s dark urges. By killing individuals that truly deserved to die. Harry develops a “code” which consists of a formal set of rules used to enact justice on criminals who have evaded punishment by finding loopholes in the justice system. As Dexter grows into adulthood, he continues to kill by “Harry’s Code”. Yet his passion for enforcing death creates disconnect from the real Dexter Morgan and the societal norms that he is required to abide by in able to avoid detection. These conflicting interests develop an interesting and entertaining psychological cocktail. I believe that Dexter Morgan suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder. In accordance with the DSM-IV criteria, Dexter is over the age of 18 and has, since age 15, displayed pervasive patterns of

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