Psychoanalysis of Dexter free essay sample

The mind of a monster Who is Dexter? Dexter Morgan (early 30s) is a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro police department (His younger sister Debra is a detective in the department) but he has a secret. He murders people in his free time. He sticks to a strict code that was taught to him by his foster father who knew that Dexter would be a killer since he was a child. This code is a guide that tells him to only kill other killers but not get caught in the process. Although Dexter only kills bad people, he still takes pleasure in killing and has his own ritual that he executes on his victims. He is a master of disguising his true self from the rest of society so on the outside he seems like a normal guy but on the inside he describes himself as empty. How did he come to be? (Freuds Psycho-sexual) Oral stage (Birth-1): Dexter did not live with his mother so he was never breast fed. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychoanalysis of Dexter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He probably weaned quite a lot since he had no woman to breast feed him. He may have had an oral fixation but it has not permantly effected his personality since this fixation often results in immaturity which Dexter is not. Anal stage (1-3): Dexter is a very neat, organized, and compulsive person it is quite likely that potty training was highly emphazised by his mother and father (he lived with them seperately). Phallic stage (3-6): Dexters psychosexual development was severely disrupted because he witnissed his mother get murdered with a chainsaw in front of him when he was only 3. This incredibly traumatic event probably put Dexters normal mental/emotional development on hold. Latency stage (6-puberty): At this stage, for most children the Id would be inaccessible by the ego, but for Dexter, his mind was negatively distorted at a young age so his Id has not been pushed to the back of his mind. His neurosis that was established in the phallic stage caused him failure to direct his energy towards following socially acceptable activities. He enjoyed killing animals in his free time. Genital stage (Puberty-adult life): Dexter has subconsciously hung on to his early childhood trauma and gained a yearning to kill. Clearly his moms death was a major influence on him since it disturbed him in the phallic stage and then stuck. Dexter has a flashback of his traumatic experience Inside Dexter (Freuds psycho analytic theory) Dexter focuses on balancing out his Id, superego, and ego. Since Dexter is psychopathic, he has had trouble understanding social norms throughout his life. He is forced to hide his Id to everyone he knows but he lets it all out when he is on the hunt for blood. Dexter is very aware of all 3 parts of his mind. He understands that his superego is disturbed and that he has a lack of morals. He knows that his Id is very strong. His ego is not used to balance out his Id an superego but to hide them from the world and to seem normal. Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development Infancy (birth to 18 months) Trust vs. mistrust Dexter did not have a mother so there was no one to breast feed him. Mothers are usually a more affectionate and caring figure in an infant’s life so when they are absent, the infant does not develop the trust that they would with a caring figure. Dexters father suffered from drug addiction so he was not a very caring father to his sons Dexter and Brian. Early Childhood (2 to 3 years) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt Since Dexter experienced a traumatizing event at such a young age it wrecked the development of his sense of control. He watched his mom get brutally murdered and could not do anything about it. It turned out that this actually caused him to put himself in more control rather than feeling helpless all the time. He felt so powerless that it caused him to want to feel in control all the time. Dexter talks about his Dark passenger (his Id) without revealing what it actually is. Preschool (3 to 5 years) Initiative vs.  guilt After Dexters mother died, his father left him with detective Harry Morgan and his wife so he gained guardians who undoubtedly cared for him and wouldnt leave his life. He finally reached a point in his life where he can feel comfortable. At this point he had the urge to feel more power and control but was treated with more fragility than with discipline because his parents understood the trauma he underwent. This led to him doing whatever he wanted but without feeling remorse or guilt School Age (6 to 11 years) Industry vs. inferiority  Dexter has always been a very intelligent person and has excelled in academics. On the other hand, he has never really understood other people and why they feel so much emotion while he feels empty inside. His social life was as successful as his academic life because he had not yet been taught by his father how to blend in with the rest of society in order to hide his true self. Adolescence (12 to 18 years) Identity vs. role confusion Dexter knows who he truly is but he has been taught to act a specific way in life and he recognizes that identity as well. He has learned to balance out his murderous self and his socially acceptable facade. His identity has basically become his 2 identities, his real self and his fake self. He knows to separate the 2. Young Adulthood (19 to 40 years) Intimacy vs. isolation This is the current stage that Dexter is in and since his father died when he was 20, he felt that he hasnt had many people that he cares about or that care about him. He has always had a strong, loving relationship with his sister Debra and they rely on each other emotionally. Dexter never really felt caring feelings toward anyone but his sister until he met Rita who for first time is someone that he is in love with. He married Rita and had a son with her. His son, Harrison, is another person in his life who he loves. Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years) (Prediction) Generatively vs. stagnation If Dexter is not imprisoned for his crimes then he will focus on making sure that Harrison does not develop the same dark passenger that he has. Dexter thinks this is very likely since his son witnessed his mother die just like he did as a baby. He feels that this will traumatize Harrison and distort his mind the way it did his. Its possible that Dexter will take the role that his father Harry did in his life. He will probably continue to be a blood spatter analyst since he enjoys the work. Maturity (65 to death) (Prediction) Ego integrity vs. despair Dexter will probably reflect on his murders and wonder if the elimination of other killers actually made a change in the world and prevented deaths of innocent people. He will hope that his son doesnt struggle with the same things that he did knowing that they had similar childhoods. Big 5 personality traits The only proof that Dexter contains a small part of this trait is when he changes up his killing ritual. Otherwise he likes to keep things straight forward and do things as planned Openness to experience Conscientiousness Dexter is usually very self-disciplined, organized, and acts dutifully but he has the ability to be spontaneous when needed. Extraversion Dexter has these kind of social abilities only as a mask to cover up who he really is so people arens suspicious. He acts very social to seem like a normal guy. Agreeableness Dexter is compassionate and cooperative towards people he needs to act this way with but he is the exact opposite to people he is going to murder Neuroticism Dexter feels angry quite often but he has the ability to control this emotion and only lets it out when he in the process of killing someone Piagets cognitive developement theory Senorimotor (Birth-2) This stage consists of the most basic cognitive abilities: vision, hearing, and motor skills, such as grasping, sucking, and stepping. Dexter performed these actions the same way most infants do and nothing unordinary occurred here. Preoperational stage (2-7) This stage is characterized by the childs manipulation of symbols and their recognition of differents shapes and dimensions. Dexter exceeded in this stage because he was very intelligent and could process things more clearly Concrete operational stage (7-11) In this stage, Dexter is able to solve problems but does not yet concious of his own thought process. He likes to kill small animals but he does not understand why he has these urges. Formal operational stage (12-adulthood) In this stage Dexter has gained the ability of abstract thought and is able to think in a fully logical way. He now understands himself and thinks about his actions and why he does them. Harry Morgan is teaching Dexter to blend in Is Dexter a psychopath, sociopath, or both Dexter is a psychopath because of his urge to kill but he is not a sociopath even though he is not a social person on the inside. If he were actually a sociopath then he would not have the social skills that he has. His psychopathy actually enables his social element because it helps make him less suspicious to the people he knows Is Dexter mentally ill? Its possible that Dexter suffers from schizophrenia because he often sees people who arent present. He mostly sees his father but Dexter acknowledges that these images are not real. Dexter sees these images because he is telling himself things he already knows but when he sees the advice coming from what he sees as his father it comforts him because his father would always give him advice before he died. Dexter talking with his dead father Subject condition Psychotic but stable Only dangerous to other murderers Socially inclined (on the outside) Denial of emotion on the inside Mildly schizophrenic (acknowledges this)