scapegoating
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.1| (), drypoint by Albrecht Dürer 1512 depicting [[Jesus Christ]] Scapegoating, sometimes called playing the blame game, is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., "I couldn't see anything because of all the tall people"), groups against individuals (e.g., "He was the reason our team didn't win"), and groups against groups.
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- At the individual level
- Its archetype
- Projection
- Scapegoat theory of intergroup conflict<!--'Scapegoat theory of intergroup conflict' redirects here-->
- Scapegoat mechanism<!--'Scapegoat theory of intergroup conflict' redirects here-->
- See also
- References
thumb|upright=1.1| (), drypoint by Albrecht Dürer 1512 depicting [[Jesus Christ]] Scapegoating, sometimes called playing the blame game, is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., "I couldn't see anything because of all the tall people"), groups against individuals (e.g., "He was the reason our team didn't win"), and groups against groups.
A scapegoat may be an adult, child, sibling, employee, or peer, or it may be an ethnic, political or religious group, or a country. A whipping boy, identified patient, or fall guy are forms of scapegoat.