Sigmund Freud (1900) proposed that a major function of dreams was the fulfillment of wishes.
Dream work describes the transformation of a forbidden wish into a non-threatening form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing us to continue sleeping. Dream work involves the process of condensation, displacement and secondary elaboration.
The process of condensation is the joining of two or more ideas/images into one. Displacement takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about. An example being: Freud had a patient who was resentful of his sister-in-law and used to refer to her as a dog, dreamed of strangling a small white dog. Freud interpreted this as representing his wish to kill his sister-in-law. The unconscious mind transformed her into a dog to protect him and tone down the severity of his sinful wish. Secondary elaboration occurs when the unconscious mind strings together wish-fulfilling images in a logical order of events - This is why the manifest content of dreams can be in the form of believable events. (Freud, 1900, The Interpretation of Dreams)
Some dreams may exist as fulfillment fantasies, Freud suggests that dreams are a way for people to satisfy urges and desires that are inappropriate or unacceptable to society - these dreams often represent the sinful nature of man.
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