Evidence that the dehumanisation of asylum seekers is linked to support for punitive punishment

This post forms part of our series in showcasing abstracts of presentations featured at the 2019 Migration, Refugees and Statelessness conference, hosted in November 2019 at The University of Melbourne.

Joel Anderson – Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health, and Society, La Trobe University School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University.

The rate of individuals being forced to seek asylum in foreign countries is rapidly rising. Despite the minimal contribution that Australia makes to this global crisis, negative attitudes and perceptions of asylum seekers in Australia have become pervasive, and hostile rhetoric dominates political and media landscapes. In this presentation, we explore the often-assumed link between dehumanization of asylum seekers and support for punitive policies. A sample of 257 Australians (M age = 27.36 years, SD = 11.36; 181 females) responded to measures of dehumanisation, prejudice, political conservatism, and then various policies. The evidence presented supports the hypotheses that specific forms of dehumanisation are linked to policy support – and importantly do so beyond the statistical contribution of pure prejudice. We hope these findings will be used to create targeted interventions aimed at reducing the dehumanisation of asylum seekers and assisting in the integration and intergroup harmony of asylum seekers and locals.

Joel Anderson is a research fellow at La Trobe, and a lecturer at Australian Catholic University.