Are Homeless People “Lazy”?

The Misconceptions

People experiencing homelessness are ignored, isolated, exploited, or even become victims of violence (2022). From being verbally abused to being criminalized for being on the streets (Vitelli, 2021), homeless people are discriminated against both on a social level and a legislative level.

To understand why homeless people are widely discriminated against, we must understand the stigmas attached to them. Common stigmas attached to homeless people include the idea that homeless people are drug addicts, lazy, violent, dangerous, and criminals (Dukule, 2023).

These misconceptions together ultimately lead people to believe that homeless people deserve to be homeless. After all, those misconceptions paint the picture that homeless people are responsible for being homeless as they have given up on themselves. They choose to be homeless to “take advantage of the system”. When this is how we see the homeless, we are actively depriving them of human qualities, personality, and dignity. Susan Fiske, a psychologist at Princeton University and a leading expert on prejudice, has conducted neuroscience research that shows when we dehumanize others, the regions of our brain associated with disgust turn on and the regions associated with empathy turn off (Resnick, 2017).

In other words, we are actively seeing them as less than human.

Homeless people receive unfriendly glares and negative judgements from passersby on a daily basis.

(https://pixabay.com/illustrations/eyes-lots-views-watch-fear-dismay-730743/)

Homeless people, at the end of the day, are people just like us. Basic needs have to be fulfilled to reach our full potential and thrive, and that includes food, clothing, and shelter. It is easy to see homeless people’s lack of food, clothing, and shelter as something that they inflicted upon themselves due to laziness, but the reality is far more complicated. According to The Centre for Justice and Social Compassion, people become homeless due to a lack of affordable housing, foreclosure, traumatic experiences, poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, natural disasters and disabilities (Coplan, 2014).

Almost all of these scenarios are situations beyond one’s control, and as social creatures, we often need that extra push from others to bounce back from dire situations. The relationships we form with other people are vital to our mental and emotional well-being and even our survival, as interpersonal relationships are what give meaning to our lives (Fisher, 2021). This becomes evident as people around the world most often cite family when asked the age-old question of “what makes life meaningful” (Clancy & Gubbala, 2021), and homeless people oftentimes lack a robust social support network.

Next steps

While we can most definitely do our part to help the homeless by donating money and clothes to them, we as citizens alone cannot end homelessness. What we need is a structural change from both the provincial and federal governments.

Currently, the Canadian government is working with communities to “prevent and reduce homelessness by providing direct support and funding to Designated Communities (urban centres), Indigenous communities, territorial communities and rural and remote communities across Canada” (2023). Such an initiative can help people who are currently affected by homelessness, but ultimately, it is a short-term solution. To truly tackle homelessness head-on, the government should continue their initiatives to make both housing and food affordable through increasing renter protections and providing new, targeted inflation relief to the Canadians hardest hit by rising food prices (2023)​​.

References

Clancy, L., & Gubbala, S. (2021, November 23). What makes life meaningful? globally, answers sometimes vary by age. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/11/23/what-makes-life-meaningful-globally-answers-sometimes-vary-by-age/

Coplan, I. (2014, January 15). Infographic Wednesday - myths of homelessness. Infographic Wednesday - Myths of Homelessness | The Homeless Hub. https://homelesshub.ca/blog/infographic-wednesday-myths-homelessness

Dukule, I. (2023, March 9). Negative perceptions hurt: Attitudes toward the Homeless. Fred Victor. https://www.fredvictor.org/2020/03/05/negative-perceptions-hurt-attitudes-toward-the-homeless/#:~:text=Homeless%20People%20Are%20Violent%20and,%2C%20not%20non%2Dhomeless%20people

Fisher, S. D. (2021, September). 5 benefits of healthy relationships. Northwestern Medicine. https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/5-benefits-of-healthy-relationships#:~:text=As%20humans%2C%20the%20relationships%20we,to%20connect%20and%20build%20relationships

Government of Canada. (2023, June 2). Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy Directives. Infrastructure Canada. https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/homelessness-sans-abri/directives-eng.html

Government of Canada. (2023, March 28). Making life more affordable. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2023/03/making-life-more-affordable.html

Resnick, B. (2017, March 7). The dark psychology of dehumanization, explained. Vox. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/3/7/14456154/dehumanization-psychology-explained

Vitelli , R. (2021, June 5). Why is homelessness so stigmatized?. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/media-spotlight/202106/why-is-homelessness-so-stigmatized

Why homelessness is stigmatized. Unity Parenting and Counseling. (2022, April 8). https://unityparenting.org/why-homelessness-is-stigmatized/#:~:text=People%20experiencing%20homelessness%20are%20ignored,keep%20their%20housing%20status%20secret.