by Bob Trowbridge

Created on: March 19, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

I'm not sure that anyone has identified a criminal mind. There may be some differences in a criminal's brain from a normal brain but I doubt that any crimes are committed because of a criminal mind or a brain difference. Dreams do not work differently for criminals or saints. The dreaming process is the same for all humans and always has been. The symbology of dreams is always personal to the individual, regardless of their day-time behavior.

A "normal" person's dreams will provide information, either directly or through symbols, that can help the dreamer make changes in their life, changes in their physical behavior, changes in their mental and emotional behavior, and changes in their spiritual life. Such dream opportunities for change are a part of every dream whether you are a Sunday school teacher or a mass murderer. The difference in our dreams will simply reflect the differences in our psyches, differences in our personal life challenges.

An individual who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), whether from childhood experiences, war experiences, or other experiences, is likely to have more nightmares than the average dreamer. Small children are likely to have more nightmares than adults, on average. Our dreams will always reflect what is going on in our life, what is going on in our psyche, whether we are aware of it or not.

I did dreamwork with juvenile criminals in a pre-placement center. This was a locked prison where juvenile prisoners were kept while it was decided whether they would be tried as a juvenile or tried as an adult. The dreams of these young criminals were very interesting but not out of line with ordinary dreamers. Their dreams tended to be about the things they did during the day, with some variations. In fact one young man was a consistent psychic dreamer. He would dream about burgling a particular house and then would burgle that house. In one case, he dreamed about burgling a house and dreamed that he got caught. Given his experience with dreams coming true, I told him it wasn't very bright of him to go ahead and burgle that house. He did get caught and was now being held in the pre-placement center.

Most of the dreams of those boys were about stealing and dealing with law enforcement or about their present incarceration. They often dreamed of escaping, not surprisingly. A colleague of mine worked with adult criminals at the notorious San Quentin prison in northern California. It took a while for him to gain the trust of the prisoners,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>