Interpreting Dreams of Crime and Violent Acts

Welcome back to the Dream Series here on Odd Random Thoughts. I know, I know, it’s been entirely too long since I added a post to this series on dreams, so I thought you all deserved an update. This series has done extremely well and had a lot of participation in the comments section, so I think we need to keep things rolling.

Dreams are so fascinating and they come in so many different shapes and sizes. Everyone has their very own way of producing these mind played dramas within their own mind and I have an excellent time hearing from all of you when you feel the need to share your dreams with us.

Perhaps you are looking for an interpretation from the minds eye of someone else, I try my best to help with this when someone is seeking advice on their dreams, so feel free to take advantage of the comments for this purpose.

So, to cut to the chase let me introduce this next post in the dream series… We are going to cover dreams that involve what are known as Bad Deeds! Yep that’s right, we all have a little bad side to us whether it’s in real life or if we choose to let this side of us slip out while dreaming.

To be more specific I’m talking about Interpreting Dreams of Crime and Violent Acts. These are most certainly some of the more disturbing of dreams, but let’s face it…these types of dreams do sometimes occur. So what do they mean, and what are we trying to tell ourselves. Without further adieu, let’s get straight to the good stuff.

What do Dreams about Crime and Acts of Violence Mean?

Most experts will tell you that anytime you dream of committing a crime or act of violence this is normally a reflection of your inner feelings acting out. For instance a negative type action in your dream will usually symbolize the darker side of your human nature, you may also choose to call this your shadow side.

This shadow side is basically a culmination of all the things you have been repressing or denying, this is often times the side of you that you do not wish to believe is there. But as I stated earlier, it’s there whether you like it or not, it’s just human nature. But it’s most certainly better to let this side of you show itself while dreaming than in the waking life, wouldn’t you agree?

When you dream of these darker sided things, it is your minds way of telling you to release and to bring these things to the open part of your mind, this way the repression may subside and it won’t effect you as much in your daily living.

Dreams that involve violence may also reveal feelings about yourself or others around you that you have contact with in waking life. As always it’s very important to pay close attention to the little details concerning the violent acts if you are to apply it to your life which will help you better understand and interpret these dreams.

But there is good hope for these types of dreams, they are very seldom predictive of things that may happen in real life, so there’s not much worry that you will commit these offenses while awake.

But there is one exception, recurring dreams of committing the act of rape may suggest extreme violent tendencies and these feelings could possibly carry over in your waking life. If you are having recurring dream like this, then I suggest strongly you seek some professional help before it’s too late.

Anyway, with all that said and done, let’s go over some specific dream scenarios and discuss what they may mean.

Common Interpretations for Dreams of Crime

Committing Acts of Deception While Dreaming

If while dreaming you find yourself lying or cheating, or even if you hear someone else doing this, it may be an indication of guilty feelings or maybe you feel you’ve not been honest in the waking life. This may also be an indicator that you feel someone else has been this way towards you. Recurring instances of this type of dream may suggest you have been living a lie in real life and it’s time to be honest with yourself.

This type of message may also be delivered to you in the form of a dream involving stealing, forgery, fraud and even blackmail. On the other hand, if you aren’t really the one committing the awful acts, but you witness someone else doing these things, then it could be because you are feeling guilt for witness something wrong in the waking life and you’ve chosen to ignore it.

If any of these scenarios are being inflicted upon you by someone else in a dream, then ask yourself one simple question, “Who has done me wrong in waking life”. As this may be a sign someone has intentionally done you wrong in real life and you may not of noticed.

Dreaming of Being Punished for a Crime

You may also find yourself dreaming of the punishment phase of a certain wrong doing. Of course waking from a dream like this normally leaves you feeling quite relieved that you weren’t in fact involved in the crime or the punishment. But that doesn’t mean you will not experience anxiety left over from such a feeling.

If this is the case, it’s quite important to try and identify any feelings that you had during this dream, this will help greatly with the interpretation. Try to remember if you had feelings of guilt or anger, and maybe you felt the punishment was unjust or undeserved.  Feeling guilty may be symbolic of something that causes your piece of mind to be disturbed.

But what if you were actually caught committing a crime in your dream, and then you find yourself awaiting the punishment, what would this mean? This is certainly your minds way of telling you that your dreaming mind disapproves of such actions and if you don’t change your ways, then your wrong doings will be discovered in the waking life.

If the person in charge of the punishment is someone you know, then you probably have remorse for something you’ve done wrong to this person in life. But if the punisher is not someone you know, it could simply mean you are feeling guilty for being disrespectful towards an authority figure.

Lynch mobs normally represent society as a whole, and being attacked by one is symbolic of committing a crime against the masses, such as littering, or playing your music too loud in residential neighborhoods. Here are a few other scenarios with a short explanation:

Being Whipped: A feeling that life has dealt you harsh blows.

Being Arrested: Represents a need for restraint in the waking life.

Forensic Team Present: Your minds way of telling you to take a look at your motives.

Stealing in Your Dreams

Stealing, burglary or anything of the sort is a suggestion of feeling envious of someone else, meaning you want something they have. The most important factors of this type of dream would be WHO are you stealing from and WHAT are you taking. This will greatly help with the interpretation.

Dream Interpretations for Violence

Accidents are often times associated with violence while dreaming and if you are having this type of dream you may want to read my post Meanings for Having Accidents in Your Dreams for a better understanding of these.

Dreams that involve some sort of ambush or abduction may represent your desperate attempts in the waking life to ward off humiliation of some sort. Particularly if you are being abducted or ambushed in your dream then try thinking of someone you feel is trying to control you in life.

If you are dreaming and you begin attacking someone, this normally suggests a hidden hostility towards someone that you know in real life. If this is the case then try to remember what caused the incident, because this could be your dreaming minds way of dealing with pent up frustrations and this was your way of release.

Being the victim of a violent act while dreaming is quite possibly your way of punishing yourself for something you’ve done while awake. If the person committing violence against you is someone you know in real life, then maybe there’s something you’ve done to that person and you’re feeling guilty.

It may also be symbolism for being aware of how you treat others in life. If you are being treated violently by others in your dream it may be the minds way of telling you to be careful not to upset others in life.

Being in Front of a Firing Squad: May represent feelings of victimization.

An Animal Attacker: This could represent an internal conflict with yourself rather than an outside attacker.

So that is a lot of information on dream interpretations involving acts of violence and crime. I know this post is rather long, but I tried to cut some of these explanations quite short in an effort to keep it as short as possible. But as many of you already know, dream interpretation is not a simple thing, in fact most explanations may be quite complex and have several different meanings depending on the scenario and the person. So I challenge you to remember in keeping your dream journal on your nightstand and write down as much as you can when you first wake up.

All the best wishes to you all and I hope all of your dreams are good ones.