Diagnosis of Dexter Morgan - Case Study Example

He abides by a moral code taught to him by his adoptive father, Harry Morgan, which will only allow him to target and kill people who are also murderers. Dexter’s mother was an informant of Harry Morgan whom he has a close relationship. A tragic event happened when Dexter’s mother was killed in front of him and his brother. The murderer used a chainsaw as a murder weapon. Dexter, who was just three years old by then, and his Brother Brian were left unchanged on the container van and soaked in their mothers’ blood. It took several days before the police were able to find them. Harry then decided to adopt Dexter and leave his brother in an orphanage.

They kept the real story from him throughout his life. Dexter considers himself emotionally withdrawn from other people. He frequently references an internal feeling of emptiness and says he needs to kill to make himself feel alive. He claims to have no feelings of remorse or conscience and that all of his emotional responses are part of a well-rehearsed act to conceal his true nature. He has no interest in romance or sex. Dexter considers his relationship with his girlfriend, and eventually his wife, Rita Bennett, to be part of his disguise.

Dexter likes children, finding them much more interesting than older people; as a sign of this, we treat murderers that target kids with anger. His connection to Rita's children, Astor and Cody, sometimes supersedes his relationship with Rita herself. Dexter deviates from his code of only killing murderers to dispose of a paedophile who is stalking Astor. Dexter occasionally behaves in a way that suggests he feels some rudimentary human connection. He acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly to his late adoptive father.

Since Harry's death, Dexter's only family is his sister Debra, Harry and Doris' biological daughter. Dexter admits that he cannot hurt Debra or allow anyone else to harm her. His relationship with Rita set in motion the slow but steady humanization of Dexter, progressing further with each season; in the final episode of the TV show's second season, he finally admits that he needs the people in his life. He does not realize that his marriage proposal to Rita is sincere, and he fights to live because he wants to see his unborn child.

In the fourth season, before killing a female police officer who has murdered her husband and young daughter, Dexter is nearly overwhelmed with the realization that he does not want to lose his new family. He is also horrified when he witnesses one of his potential victims abusing his family while using them as a "human shield"; Dexter vehemently insists he is nothing like that. In Season 5, after Rita is murdered, Dexter realizes that he genuinely loves her and is devastated at losing her.

Diagnosis of Dexter Morgan: Schizoid accompanied by Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD). Justification of Anti-Social Personality Disorder (APA, 2010) A. Evidence of a pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years.