Dreams About Crime and Their Meaning

The world is against you, and you’re escaping from the authorities. It’s either you robbed a bank or murdered someone. It can be extremely unsettling to wake up from a dream where you are a witness or the perpetrator of a crime.

Witnessing or committing a crime in your dream mirrors your stress and anxiety. It also shows concealed guilt and desires that haunt you. Your dreams may also signal that the consequences of your past actions are coming back to you.

The General Meaning of Crime Dreams

According to dream psychologist Ian Wallace, dreaming about a crime usually stems from an unconscious feeling you’re keeping from yourself. From burying an old thought to suppressing memories, these inner feelings could be positive, negative, or neutral.

According to Aunty Flo, crime dreams could be associated with the following aspects of your life:

• Aggressiveness and power.
• Fear of taking action in your life.
• Difficult Times of Tragedy.
• Stress at work.
• Fear of being judged.

The crime you have committed in your dream may be a decision you have made in your waking life. Or maybe you chose to set aside your individual needs in the hope of society’s acceptance.

You are subconsciously reflecting on your inner thoughts. For instance, your negative dreams signal your shadow side or the negative side of your human nature.

Your shadow side is a culmination of everything you have been concealing and denying. The aspect that you don’t want to accept about yourself.

Dreaming about your darker sides is your subconscious telling you that you must release these emotions and accept each part of you. This way, you’ll be able to live freely.

Types of Crime Dreams and Their Meanings

Dreams about murder and other crimes signal various (non-crime-related) dissatisfactions, feelings, and anxieties. Here are some common crime dreams and their interpretation, according to Bustle.

1. Becoming a Victim of Robbery

Dreaming about robbery doesn’t mean you’ll become a robbery victim in real life. Instead, this dream is triggered by the anxiousness of losing something presented more metaphorically.

According to Shawn Engel, experiencing robbery in your dream means you are afraid of having something taken away from you.

For instance, if you’re an artist and frequently share your works online, you might fear someone will steal your intellectual property. Because of this, you may have recurring home invasion dreams.

Engel proposes that to stop these dreams, determine which area of your life gives you uncertainty, then work on building a stronger foundation to feel more secure.

2. Committing Robbery

If you’re the one committing robbery in your dream, you might feel that something is missing in your waking life.

Robbing someone of their possession in your dream could mirror the intangible qualities you’ve been striving to create for yourself but haven’t succeeded yet.

3. Being Kidnapped

Bridget Dengel Gaspard explained that you have to start with the detail to give an interpretation of this dream.

Related: Dream Interpretation: Complete Guide

Remember your dream’s plotline and elements. Write down who the kidnapper was and what you felt during the dream.

Gaspard explained that this dream represents a part of you that requires attention. If this resonates with you, embracing that aspect of your life would be best.

4. Home Invasion

Gaspard states that dreaming about someone invading your home tells you much about your relationship with people. Visualize the idea of having someone climbing your window and breaking into your house; it will probably scare you.

In your waking life, this dream is about the people who take advantage of you and people who do not reciprocate your efforts.

Setting boundaries and burning bridges connected to toxic relationships is the key to preventing this dream.

5. Car Chase

The car in your dream depicts how you’re driving through life. Are you dodging things? Are you driving fast? Are you putting yourself and others in danger? 

According to Gaspard, asking yourself how you feel driving the car and what and who you’re chasing or being chased by will help provide meaning to your dream.

A car out-of-control may represent you chasing your goals at the risk of your health or relationship.

6. Assault

According to Engel, assault dreams indicate that you feel violated or you don’t have control over some aspect of your life.

It could also signify underlying suppressed anger. However, on the opposite side, assault can also represent protection or self-love. It could mean you’re ready to fight against a bully or confront a toxic aspect of your life.

If you have dreams like this, it’s crucial to determine what aspects of your life you feel scared of. Your dream may signify that it’s now time to confront them.

7. Being Chased

William Braun suggested that it all depends on who or what is chasing you. Often, we dream of being chased. The pursuer may symbolize an addiction, a debt, or an indiscretion.

Being chased in your dream could mean that you are avoiding something in your waking life. Carl Jung suggested that instead of continuously escaping away, face the pursuer and never resist it.

8. Witnessing a Crime

Witnessing a crime in your dream warns you about the possibility of getting involved in fraudulent and shady transactions.

This dream signals that you must avoid such activities in real life before putting yourself in situations you can regret for a lifetime.

On the other hand, this dream could also represent a possible encounter with a dishonest person at work or in personal life. Remember to be careful at all times.

9. Murder

A crime involving murder in your dream is about apathy and deep hatred towards an ideology or a person.

Or maybe there’s something about yourself that you want to completely erase. Murdering a person, especially someone you know in your dream, may possess that quality you cannot accept about yourself.

You subconsciously committed the crime against that person in the hope that you’ll get rid of your flaws.

To prevent having such a disturbing dream is to make peace with yourself. Slowly accept yourself because you’re all that you have in the end. 

10.  Being a Criminal on the Run

This dream mostly has a positive connotation. Being a criminal on the run in your dream implies that your life will be different.

You’re about to enter a new transition that will position you for greater opportunities. It could be a job promotion. Or you’re finally letting go of the things weighing you down for a long time.

You will focus on working your way to your goals and meeting great people to support you.

11. Solving a Crime

Gaspard explained that solving a crime in your dream means that your subconscious is trying to provide solutions to things holding you back or a difficult situation that has to be addressed.

She added that it could also be your sleeping mind’s way of figuring out an issue, like a conflict with your loved ones or friends.

12. Being Framed for a Crime

Being framed for a crime means you are scared of being found out about something that happened in your past.

You are hiding a (not-crime-related) secret that you fear will end your great relationship with people. Your fear of getting discovered is manifesting itself through this dream.

But don’t be disheartened. To make up for your past mistakes, ensure that you’ll live more purposefully and do good work.

13. Inviting a Criminal at Home

Inviting a criminal into your home, whether you’re aware they committed a crime, might indicate financial hardships that could soon happen.

If you are currently struggling financially and compromising your basic needs to make ends meet, this could be the beginning of long struggles.

It’s time to think of solutions to overcome your current situation before it escalates into something out of hand.

14. Being an Accomplice of a Crime

You are in danger if you dream of being associated with a criminal. Someone in your social circle might be trying to jeopardize your life and use you for their gain. Be meticulous in choosing your friends and be observant with your relationship. 

Conclusion

Dreaming about crimes can be unsettling, but despite this, they are eye-opening experiences.

Your crime dreams reveal the dark aspects of yourself that you don’t want to address. They remind you of the uniqueness of your duality and how you should embrace them.

Like the colors black and white, you are also composed of the good and the bad, light and darkness, as well as beauty and ugliness. And this is what it means to be human; to be all of these aspects about yourself.