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What is Scapegoating?

Scapegoating can happen anywhere.  In this video,
Suzanne provides examples of political scapegoating. 

                           

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The Goal of Scapegoating

Scapegoating has been used by human communities to restore harmony and achieve peace since the beginning of civilization. The problem with scapegoating is not the result – peace is a good thing – but with the method used to achieve it. The costs of that method
are measured in endless cycles of human suffering.

The Hidden Costs of Scapegoating

Scapegoating works by hiding the victim’s suffering so that scapegoaters never realize
just how awful a deed they have done. With
the suffering hidden, scapegoaters can
continue to do harm while never doubting
their own goodness or their victim’s guilt.

Someone to Blame

How is the suffering hidden? For scapegoating
to occur, a community must agree on a target
who can be blamed for anything that goes wrong. Sometimes a community just needs someone to BE wrong all the time, so they
can know they are right. It really doesn’t
matter if the person is actually guilty or wrong,
as long as everyone agrees on it. That agree-
ment allows the community to act against the scapegoat and feel justified. They can hate,
abuse, ridicule, neglect, expel, wound or kill
the scapegoat and actually experience feelings
of joy and well-being afterward. Because the scapegoaters believe in the guilt of their
scapegoat so completely, they are blind to
the scapegoat’s suffering.

If You Have a Scapegoat, You Don’t Know It

No one wants to be a scapegoater. It’s an
awful thing and we all know that. But the
tricky thing about scapegoating is that if you
are doing it, you are absolutely blind to it.
What you think you are doing is being good
by standing up against injustice or evil. You absolutely believe that you are right and the
one whom you are scapegoating is no innocent victim at all, but someone who deserves to be hated. So how do you know if you are really standing up to injustice or just torturing some innocent victim?

 

Examples

  • Cliques of popularity maintain the peace within their communities by focusing all their
    resentment outward against the unpopular. The clique never doubts their own goodness
    and never acknowledges the pain they have caused.
  • An office staff may achieve harmony by blaming an unlucky team member for everything
    that goes wrong. The staff feels good and noble and remains completely unaware that
    they are being cruel and unfair.
  • Individuals can do this, too. I can feel good about myself by hating a celebrity or politician
    or next door neighbor, feeling at peace with myself at the expense of an unfair attitude
    toward another.

 

scapegoatingSigns of Scapegoating

Here are some signs that you are scapegoating:

1. You are absolutely convinced of someone’s guilt.
2. You think that his version of things is filled with lies and distortions.
3. You celebrate wounding, “killing off”, or killing another.
4. If someone did to you what you are justifying in the name of goodness,
    their actions would be undeniable proof of their wickedness.


The Courage to End Scapegoating

To be sure you are not scapegoating, you must find the courage to honestly listen to the story of those whom you are convinced are guilty or evil. Seeing the suffering that they endure because of your persecution will destroy your ability to scapegoat them. The courage to end scapegoating requires the courage to admit you were wrong.

 

Answer the Caw Back in the right column to express your thoughts on whether a current situation is scapegoating or not.

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