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Oct 25 2007, 5:19 PM EDT Glidinforlove 86 words added, 480 words deleted
Oct 24 2007, 10:55 PM EDT lydiafre 296 words added

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DEXTER'S CHILDHOOD

Family life: Dexter has no real clear memory of his biological family but was exceptionally close (In his own way) with his adoptive family The Morgans.

His family on both sides consist(ed) of:
Harry Morgan (Adoptive Father)
Doris Morgan (Adoptive Mother)
Debra Morgan (Adoptive Sister)
Joe Driscoll (Biological Father)
Laura Moser (Biological Mother)
Brian Moser (Older Biological Brother)

Psychology and development:

Possible roots for psychopathy: Dexter and Brian were trapped as children in a storage container located at the docks in Miami for two days. Sitting in a two inch deep bath of blood and surrounded by corpses (One of them was their mother). Her murder was something both brothers witnessed. They suffer irreparable psychological and emotional damage. The decapitation and mutilation of their mothers body seems to lend to Brian's obsession and to Dexter's method of body removal.

Life-changing moment(s): Dexter kills his brother.

First signs of psychopathy:Harry realized Dexter had been killing neighborhood animals by discovering a mass grave site.

DEXTER'S ADULT YEARS

How Dexter deals with his urges: The Code of Harry

Psychological motivation(s): To satisfy an inner voice he calls "The Dark Passenger

Typical victim profile: Violent criminals who Dexter believes have escaped justice.

Psychological aftermath: Because of the things that happened when he was younger, his brain has grouped these thoughts of murder and labeled them with an image of the "dark passenger" inside his brain.

Kill souvenir(s):A medical slide with a small blood sample.



 DEXTER POLL



DEXTER'S RITUALS

  • Taking a blood sample from the victim with a scalpel for his slide collection.

  • Encaseing his prefered room in plastic tarp so no evidence is left.

  • Using black plastic trash bags to dispose of victim remains overboard the 'Slice of Life'



 TOOLS OF HIS TRADE

  • Rubber sheets
  • Plastic tarp
  • Etorphine hydrochloride or M99
  • Black leather gloves
  • Black plastic trashbags
  • Scalpel
  • Battery-powered mini-saw
  • Hypodermic needles
  • Plastic Wrap




DISSECTING DEXTER
Does Dexter want to get caught? (Provide evidence to support your case below.)
YES
 NO
  • Dexter as a hero would like to get caught, so he can feel accepted by everyone else, he would like a bit of credit for all the horrible people he's taken away






  • He follows Harry's Code, and part of that is not getting caught; remaining as normal as possible.








Dissecting Dexter: Dexter Trivia

The Official Diagnosis
Psychopathy has been assessed for decades using a diagnostic tool called the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a clinical-rating scale devised by psychologist Robert D. Hare of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Put Dexter on the couchThe PCL-R rating scale is designed to measure traits of psychopathic personality disorder. Subjects of investigation are interviewed and judged by whether any of 20 psychopathy-related traits apply to them.

PCL-R scores range from 0 to 40. Most people in the general population score no more than 5 on this test, but an estimated 1 percent score at least 30, the threshold for psychopathy.



Add evidence for the following traits for Dexter:
PCL-R PSYCHOPATHIC TRAIT
EVIDENCE OR CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE OF TRAIT IN DEXTER

Glibness/superficial charm
  • Donuts everyday for the office
  • Playing along and returning flirting comments to a plethora of women, but not really meaning anything admittedly.
  • His playful and sarcastic responses to Doakes very real threat.



Grandiose sense of self-worth
  • As we can see from his ending statements from Season 1, he sees himself as a hero, not a murderer. (however, i agree)
  • In "Born Free," after Dexter and fellow officers visit the scene of the Ice Truck Killer's murder/apparent suicide, he has a vision of being the heroic object of a parade of people cheering for him and holding up signs.

  • Dexter often describes himself as "the only one" who can punish the serial killers he tracks, as an avenger.

  • Before Brian, he felt no one would ever understand him--after he killed Brian, again he felt alone.



Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
  • He can't last for too long without being willed to commit another murder by his dark thoughts, the embodiment of "The Dark Passenger."

  • As a young boy he was fascinated by his fathers heart beating rapidily in response to surprise/fear. Dexter had never felt that much emotions or excitement and felt the need to risk his own life just to replicate the sensation.

  • The only thing that keeps him going is the thrill of the kill and his misguided morals that induce this need to kill



Pathological lying
  • On a daily basis since his first "lesson" with his father, Dexter has been lying to everyone he knows by pretending to respond with emotion or interest.

  • The fib he tells about where he got the heroin and then says that he is an addict--allowing her to believe that he is a narcotics addict--when int truth his addiction is worse than heroin.




Conning/manipulative
  • Getting case files from the file clerk by plying her with donuts.
  • He constantly manipulates Debra's investigations and theories, to avoid being implicated.
  • He tampers with evidence
  • He cons his victims as he stalks them (e.g. meeting up with Matt Chambers in a bar; going to sessions as a patient of Dr. Meridian.
  • His entire relationship with Rita is based on his desire to appear to be a normal person.
  • Running the garbage truck into the A/C for the temp morgue

Lack of remorse or guilt
  • "I'm not sorry." "Neither am I."

  • Dexter doesn't believe that what he is doing is actually wrong and so his intellect tells him that, even if he could feel guilt he would have no need to do so. He hides what he does not out of guilt but only, as he was trained, to not get caught so that he can continue.




Shallow affect
    • No emotion, always calm, doesn't get excited, doesn't cry.
    • Watchs "Terms of Enderment", widely considered one of the most heart wretching movies made without reacting in the least.
    • He has formed shallow "friendships" with his colleagues. (Here again I don't know how accurate this is - Dexter doesn't think that these relationships have much to them, however he does obviously take them into consideration and respects them.)
    • Lives life by a rigid code -- actions aren't motivated or coordinated by his own conscience, but by what he thinks is correct from his childhood learnings.




    Callous/lack of empathy
    • Dexter shows no remorse for his victims, simply because neither did they for theirs. Had they done so, Dex would have taken that into consideration before the stalk. He shows empathy for his victims' victims.
    • Dexter has no intinct or desire to comfort his own emotionally devistated sister just moments after saving her from being murdered by her boyfriend.


  • Parasitic lifestyle Evidence to the contrary; Dexter keeps his own apartment, makes his own meals, buys his own car, etc. On the other hand, he can be seen eating meals quite often at girlfriend Rita's home, however this act seems to be more of an attempt at feigning normal social interaction as opposed to a method of obtaining a free meal. Poor behavioral control Rarely is this trait apparent in Dexter; he must constantly be in control in order to keep up his facade as a 'normal human being.' however, lack of behavioral control is observed when Dexter has gone longer than usual without killing; the rest of his activities and daily functions seem to suffer as a result of this. Dexter seems to require the act of killing in order to function. When Dexter is pushed to an emotional extreme by another person: Doakes sucker punches him- Dexter loses his temper, showing Doakes his amazing strength, fighting skills and ability for violence; the car salesman insults Rita and Dexter reacts without thinking, stabbing him and killing him quickly rather than slowly and neatly as he normally would; Rita's Ex threatens Rita and Dexter loses control completely and strikes him with a pan in a kitchen with many potential witnesses. Promiscuous sexual behavior No evidence of this trait -- Dexter is essentially asexual; he only is aroused by killing and signs/scenes/thoughts of killing. (I disagree with this. Dex, admittedly in S2E1, longs for the "touch and the feeling of Rita's warm body," and to see the kids. Dexter essentially sees sex as trivial - however love is becoming something prominent in his life.) He's changing, metamorphosing into something new. The Green River Killer quit killing and lived a some what normal life for 20 years till caught, after meeting a girl and getting married. The first serial killer to our knowledge to stop killing. His love for the girl he met is what got him to stop. (she never knew till he was caught, that he was a killer.) In episode S2E3 he tells his victim "don't talk that way about my girlfriend!" You can clearly hear the emotion in his voice. He is starting to have feelings for the first time in his life I believe. Early behavior problems Killed animals as a boy. No basic social instinct, inability to interact with other people in a natural manner. Lack of realistic, long-term goals Has none. He lives life day-by-day, and tries to be as normal as possible. Impulsively Irresponsibility Failure to accept responsibility for own actions Many short-term marital relationships No evidence of this. He shows dedication to Rita and her kids. Juvenile delinquency Harry was there every step of the way for Dexter. An exceptional guiding force in Dex's young life. Revocation of conditional release N/A Criminal versatility


    He is skilled at breaking and entering, kidnapping, and theft.