Jail dreams are much more related to unnamed people, more related to strangers, and more related to family than dreams in general. They are less related to animals, less related to insects, and less related to fantastic beings.

Jail dreams are more related to hatred than dreams in general. They are less related to happiness, less related to fear, and less related to love.

Dreams of jails are more related to work, much more related to human-made places, and more related to transportation than dreams in general. They are less related to natural places and less related to magical places.

Dreams of jails are much more related to aggressive acts, more related to sex, and much more related to death than dreams in general. They are less related to friendly acts and less related to disasters.

Jail dreams are more related to recurring dreams, more related to weird dreams, and more related to vivid dreams than dreams in general. They are less related to lucid dreams and less related to sleep paralysis.

Jail dreams are less related to hearing, less related to taste, and less related to vision.

You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.

The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience jails in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.

Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about jails in dreams. See how you feel about jails now, in your waking life.

This interpretation is from ""The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings" and is provided by J.M. DeBord aka "RadOwl". He is the author of several acclaimed books about dreaming, the host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast, and is a moderator of r/Dreams, one of the largest dream sharing communities on the internet. Being in jail is likely to be a physical representation of a personal situation. You’re trapped, confined. A situation is never-ending. Things never change. You can’t get away. See: Prisoners Dreams can begin there and branch out far and wide. For example, you have a disability that creates a perception of you that can’t be escaped—people will always see you that way—or that limits what you can do. Or you are perceived as an unintelligent or quiet person, so you are never asked for your opinion or input. You feel trapped in your body, in your life, in your head. It’s like being in jail. Racial and gender stereotyping can be confining. For example, a female working in a male-dominated profession might feel like she can’t advance because of her gender. Rules and restrictions can be confining. They can make you feel limited and trapped. Making decisions can spark a dream about being in jail. It captures the feeling that once a decision is made, it can’t be changed. It limits your freedom to choose. Beliefs can be limiting—not just religious beliefs but personal ones, such as a belief that you can’t do something because you don’t have the skill or ability. Some people avoid any sort of religious organization because they don’t want to limit their spiritual pursuits. The same idea applies to social groups. To be part of certain groups, you have to look and act a certain way and espouse certain opinions and beliefs. To some people, such conformity is equivalent to being locked in a cage or kept in a jail. “Detained” is another word for “jailed” and it can be associated with a feeling of being delayed or bogged down, in a specific situation or just in general. Or you feel you are under suspicion—suspects in crimes are detained. Jails are associated with punishment, and in dreams a jail setting can symbolize that you feel you are being punished, or that someone—yourself included—deserves punishment. For example, you can feel that an abusive or neglectful parent deserves to be punished and dream about the person being sentenced to jail. The parent might not have broken any laws, but did break your heart or spirit. That idea applies to other people in your life. If they wrong you, they deserve punishment. Dreaming about being jailed can stem from a guilty conscience—you feel that’s what you deserve. See: Guilty Jails are associated with isolation. Isolation can be involuntary, such as when you don’t have any friends. Isolation can be necessary for thinking through what’s happening in your life, or pursuing something that requires long hours of solitary concentration. In such a situation you might dream that you are sentenced to jail, symbolizing self-imposed exile. See also: Accomplices, Arresting, Bullies, Cages, Dungeons, Escaping, Fugitives, Guilty, Hostages, Jails, Police, Prisoners