Dexter In Dexter, Dexter Morgan is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department (PD), but he

Dexter In Dexter, Dexter Morgan is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department (PD), but he

hides a secret life as a serial killer. His foster parent was Harry Morgan, a Miami Metro PD officer. The show is premised on Dexter’s traumatic adolescence as the catalyst for his adult desires to kill. Harry discovers this, but encourages Dexter to direct his actions at criminals who escape punishment. Dexter makes calculated decisions about who he kills according to the ‘Code of Harry’. It outlines that the killing must serve some purpose and that Dexter’s victim deserves to die because they have violated “innocent” people, usually by murdering them.

In this episode, Dexter stalks Jamie Jaworski whom he suspects murdered a young mother named Jane Saunders. Though Jaworski was arrested for the crime, he escaped conviction because of an invalid search warrant. Dexter breaks into Jaworski’s apartment looking for evidence that he murdered Saunders. If Dexter can prove Jaworski murdered her, he can enact his own justice as defined by the ‘code’. Jaworski’s apartment contains various sadomasochistic tropes, such as whips, restraints and bondage magazines. Dexter logs onto Jaworski’s computer and discovers he has accessed a fetish website called ‘Scream Bitch Scream’. The website contains violent pornography, including a video-recording of the murder. Saunders is seen in the video with a man who has the same tattoo as Jaworski. Later, Jaworski confesses to Dexter that it is a snuff movie. Dexter then kills Jaworski.

Law & Order In ‘Uncle’ (‘Sadist’ in Germany), a mother and her young daughter are brutally murdered and raped. They

have been strangled, wrapped in plastic and have incisions on their breasts and genitals. Detectives from New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Special Victims Unit (SVU), Elliot Stabler and Dani Beck, investigate the crime. As outlined in opening credits, the NYPD: SVU investigates ‘sexually based offences’. It includes detectives and specialists in forensics and law (eg a medical examiner, an assistant district attorney, a forensic psychiatrist).

Forensic psychiatrist, Dr George Huang, profiles the offender as a person aroused by the infliction of pain. He names them as a sexual sadist. The detectives trace fingerprints, found on an advertisement for the girl’s bicycle at a convenience store, to Brent Allen Banks who was jailed for rape and kidnapping as a Forensic psychiatrist, Dr George Huang, profiles the offender as a person aroused by the infliction of pain. He names them as a sexual sadist. The detectives trace fingerprints, found on an advertisement for the girl’s bicycle at a convenience store, to Brent Allen Banks who was jailed for rape and kidnapping as a

To obtain evidence, the detectives lure Banks to chew pieces of gum left in front of him in the interviewing room. Dr Huang’s profile suggests that he will take the gum. This is supposed to reinforce Bank’s sadism. This gum is provided as the primary evidence during the trial. The prosecution allege that dental imprints on the gum match injuries on the victims’ bodies. The fingerprints and gum are the prosecutions’ only evidence. Banks is acquitted, but he is killed by a civilian in the closing scenes.

These narratives of violence cast the offenders as male and victims as female. The victims are young (i.e.

3 20-40 years old), 4 Caucasian, unmarried and have little relationship with their attackers. The victims are unmarried, but layered with symbols of innocence and heteronormativity. Two are mothers (ie SVU and

Dexter) and the other (ie Criminal Minds) is looking for a boyfriend. They are positioned as ‘innocent’ female bodies, harmed by hyper-pathological men. Their gender and (hetero)sexuality make them vulnerable to violence which would not be committed against heterosexual male or same-sex desiring bodies. Central to these narratives is the idea that women are especially vulnerable to violence, but that women are at-risk from ‘stranger danger’. Females are vulnerable to violent male strangers who seek out single, heterosexual female. This further perpetuates myths that violence occurs in public spaces and diverts attention from violence in private spaces such as the home (for discussion of the public/private dichotomy and domestic/family violence, see Coker 2001:814-58; Hudson 2006: 35; Nancarrow 2006:92,99).

These victims fit within the ideal typology of victims described by Christie (1986:18). He describes ideal victims as ‘a person or category of individuals – who – when hit by a crime – most readily are given the complete and legitimate status of being a victim’. These victims must have five qualities; weakness; respectability; lacking blame and no relationship with the offender; also the offender is ‘big and bad’.

3 One of the victims is the adolescent daughter of one of these women. 4 Penelope Garcia is a Caucasian American who acquired a Spanish surname from her step-father.

Dowler, Fleming and Muzzatti (2006:840-1) highlight the idealised gender stereotyping of victims in popular culture, where female victims are categorised as either innocent and undeserving or blameworthy. Female victims who signify innocence/morality are more likely to be viewed as victims. These authors also suggest that race influences cultural imaginations of victims, claiming that Caucasian victims illicit more sympathy. In most popular cultural narratives, serial killers target young, attractive, Caucasian females.

The offenders have similar characteristics to the victims. They are young (20-40 years old), Caucasian, single males. However, they are markedly different to victims because none of the offenders have children. The offenders have no familial or intimate relationships which makes them more like ‘strangers’ and less like domestic/family violence offenders. Even though they are heterosexual, their sexuality is relocated to the Other of sadism which is defined as non-consensual extreme violence. Violence is seen as foreign, dislodged from the realms of the family and intimacy. The offenders even appear to commit violence in place of intimate relationships. This positions sadism as a type of violence unrelated to sexuality, implying that violence occurs outside of relationships. This creates two myths; that sadists are brutal predators and that violent offenders are random strangers who bear no resemblance to men whom we may know (eg fathers, boyfriends, partners, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins, etc). This could also situate them as ‘big and bad’.

Although these programs label the offenders as sadists, this is actually violence and torture. None of the offenders name themselves as sadists. Dexter calls Jaworski a sadist after discovering s/m paraphernalia at his apartment. When Detective Stabler tells Banks that many people engage in s/m, Banks replies that

he does not. There is absolutely nothing about Baylor/Battle to tie him to s/m, other than the dubious profile created by the FBI agents.

The offenders are arrogant and envisage themselves ‘above the law’. The three plots imply a masculine right to inflict violence, in these cases death, upon the female body. Violence is conceptualised as an extension of (male) gender and heterosexual desire, although these are pathological desires. These representations of violence are criminal (murder and attempted murder) and situated within a uni- directionally gendered trajectory. That is, sadistic violence is performed exclusively on female bodies by The offenders are arrogant and envisage themselves ‘above the law’. The three plots imply a masculine right to inflict violence, in these cases death, upon the female body. Violence is conceptualised as an extension of (male) gender and heterosexual desire, although these are pathological desires. These representations of violence are criminal (murder and attempted murder) and situated within a uni- directionally gendered trajectory. That is, sadistic violence is performed exclusively on female bodies by

Sadism is interpreted through death in all three shows. The victims in Dexter and SVU were killed. While in Criminal Minds, the victim pretended to be dead and Baylor/Battle wanted to kill her. This implies that death is either the intended outcome or an ultimate form of sadism. Sadists appear as violent killers who have little control over their desires. Sadistic desire is portrayed as an uncontrolled desire to kill or an irrepressible desire which results in killing. It is displayed through acts in which men seek to harm (read murder) females with whom they have little relationship.

It could be argued that sadistic serial killers signal the extreme limit of male entitlement to women’s bodies. This is because these narratives divert attention away from the more usual examples of violence (ie domestic/family violence) to fallaciously situate gendered, heterosexual subjectivities about violence within the category of extreme and unusual assaults. Popular cultural narratives embody violence as the dead bodies of victims and random (sadistic) stranger. This constructs violence as something which happens somewhere else, but also as a fantasy. Violence is reconfigured from something which living women experience within their everyday lives to an improbability and illusion. Saturating popular culture with sadistic serial killers propagates the myth of gendered, heterosexual violence as ‘stranger danger’. Replacing domestic/family violence with this fable creates a neat formula of crime because criminal law deals more easily with violence/death where the offender is not a family member or intimate partner.

This happens for several reasons. Death is more likely to result in prosecution, than non-fatal assault, because killing is seen as socially-unacceptable and included within criminal jurisdiction (e.g. murder, manslaughter). Criminal offences involving death will usually attract more substantial judicial investigation and police resources, compared with an injured body. State intervention usually corresponds to the degree of harm with death being viewed as the most serious type of criminal harm. Also, injuries sustained from assault (eg bruises, broken bones) are more easily concealed. These may also include psychological harm (eg threats, intimidation, emotional abuse) and these injuries are less likely to be noticed by others, compared with a missing or dead bodies. The state initiates proceedings for fatal crime, rather than complainants. The state can and does intervene in the ‘private’ lives of citizens This happens for several reasons. Death is more likely to result in prosecution, than non-fatal assault, because killing is seen as socially-unacceptable and included within criminal jurisdiction (e.g. murder, manslaughter). Criminal offences involving death will usually attract more substantial judicial investigation and police resources, compared with an injured body. State intervention usually corresponds to the degree of harm with death being viewed as the most serious type of criminal harm. Also, injuries sustained from assault (eg bruises, broken bones) are more easily concealed. These may also include psychological harm (eg threats, intimidation, emotional abuse) and these injuries are less likely to be noticed by others, compared with a missing or dead bodies. The state initiates proceedings for fatal crime, rather than complainants. The state can and does intervene in the ‘private’ lives of citizens

Crimes of physical and sexual violence are difficult to investigate because they often involve sexual partners or family members and are committed in private spaces without witnesses. There are issues investigating crimes when victims and offenders do not know each other. Many crimes are under- reported (especially sexually-based offences, such as rape, sexual assault and incest) for several reasons. Survivors may feel ashamed or fear retribution when they report. Some survivors may be unable to report due to age (eg babies) or physical abilities (e.g. stroke, paralysis, disability, speech pathologies). They may be too traumatised to discuss the assault or may feel that justice will not prevail.

Furthermore, many sexually-based crimes are not prosecuted, so there is a lack of data on sexual offenders. Focusing on convicted sex offenders produces distorted understandings about offending (Masser et al 2006:565). Yet, this is what criminal justice professionals on crime dramas do. They depend on abundant supplies of forensic evidence, but also offender profiles constructed on sociopathic/psychopathic typologies to complete an absolute reliability for case clearance rates. On shows such as Criminal Minds and SVU, criminal charges are guaranteed and there is certainty that the suspect is guilty.

This inconsistency between violence in popular culture and the corporeality of violence flows onto reporting rates, but in a different way. Crime dramas usually present victims as dead bodies, rather than living, breathing, speaking bodies. Similarly, victims may be unable to speak because they have suffered serious assault or emotional trauma. However, these ‘silent victims’ communicate in non-verbal ways with the criminal justice professionals who investigate their crimes.

Academics have discussed how dead bodies are unable to speak, especially highlighting how this impacts on justice (see Tyson 2007:288-9). These issues reverse in television narratives because dead bodies speak volumes about offenders, the crime and themselves (the victims). They speak in non-verbal ways, even though they cannot enunciate spoken words and even when they did not know the offender. As Academics have discussed how dead bodies are unable to speak, especially highlighting how this impacts on justice (see Tyson 2007:288-9). These issues reverse in television narratives because dead bodies speak volumes about offenders, the crime and themselves (the victims). They speak in non-verbal ways, even though they cannot enunciate spoken words and even when they did not know the offender. As

Tyson (2007:288,308-9) explains the narrative processes which occur in criminal trials where the provocation defence is used to excuse men’s fatal violence as a natural response to feminine provocation. She outlines how criminal law excuses heterosexual men’s violence against women in intimate relationships. Her research provides socio-legal evidence about gendered violence within relationships, but it also supports the idea that popular cultural depictions of violence do not align with the corporeality of violence which is very much gendered and (hetero)sexualised.

Cultural imaginations of violence remove much of the complex emotions deeply-embedded within victims’ experiences of domestic/family violence. These emotions are complicated by familial or intimate bonds between offenders and those who experience violence. In all three plots, the offenders are killed by justice professionals (Criminal Minds), citizens seeking justice (SVU) or both (Dexter). The killing of these sadistic criminals implies that justice has been served. No-one mourns the offenders’ deaths. There is even a slight celebration that their evil bodies have been eradicated. This conflicts with the corporeality of domestic/family violence because those who experience violence often have very mixed feelings about their attackers based on their relationship.

Closing Credits: Sadistic Serial Killers and The Familiar Criminal Other Sadism has a long history of pathologisation which is grounded in sexual and psychiatric research/discourse. Langdridge and Barker (2007: 3) indicate sadism is listed within the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV) as a psychological illness, even though there is no evidence to support s/m being a type of psychopathology or an illness. Sadomasochism is recognised as a global identity with many annual events/celebrations (eg Leather Pride Week in Sydney, Australia and Leather Pride Week in the US city of San Francisco). However, many individuals still situate sadism within criminal psychopathology and illegality.

Sadism is used within crime dramas to describe a range of pathological/criminal behaviours. The concept of sadism becomes everything and nothing. Sadistic serial killers complete a narrative of culpability through their absolute and compound evilness. Violent offenders depicted within the crime dramas analysed in this paper offer a neat characterisation and culpability of violence. They deflect our gaze away from cases of violence which are often prosecuted within law. Popular culture realises violence via distorted narratives which dismiss gendered, heterosexualised violence as a lived experience for many women.

The same binaries that separate pain from pleasure and sadism from normative sociality influence the narratives of violence discussed in this paper. Popular culture reassigns violence to a foreign, imaginary realm. Violence, like s/m, is socio-legally positioned as something deviant and unusual. While s/m may have a fairly limited place in many individual’s lives, especially those who do not practices s/m, violence may have a more pervasive and omnipresent place in our lives. Violence penetrates our lives through popular cultural imagery (eg television, film, news media) and may occur in our social, professional and personal/family lives. Imagining violence as sadistic serial killing overshadows more common experiences of violence. Domestic/family violence is silent within popular cultural narratives of crime because violence in associated with the imaginary, the extreme and the bizarre.

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Integrating Restorative Approaches in Victims’ Compensation and Assistance

Tyrone Kirchengast, University of New South Wales 1