The Neuroscience Underlying Dehumanised Perception Towards People Who Are Homeless

People who have no permanent accommodation suffer stigmatisation stemming from a dehumanised perception – a failure to consider the minds of such people. Dehumanised perception promotes both active and passive harm towards people who are homeless (rough sleepers), including social avoidance and physical attacks. In addition, people who are homeless also elicit disgust and contempt, and are held responsible for their situation. Social neuroscience research over the last two decades has elucidated the brain mechanisms underlying consideration of other minds, and documented reduced engagement of this mechanism when people encounter people who are homeless. This chapter describes this research, along with subsequent research that explores why such perceptions occur, and how they may be ameliorated. It also explores other brain mechanisms related to dehumanised perception and disgust, explaining how they interact with situational factors and personality variables to promote or inhibit dehumanisation of people who are homeless.