Overview
Scapegoating refers to the process by which an individual is blamed for the benefit of others who most often are avoiding their own problems through their “sacrificial goat,” the biblical origin of the term. Negative outcomes for scapegoating such as depression and emotional distress have long been known, but the actual dynamics of scapegoating have not been well understood. However, recent advances in research on scapegoating in adolescence have explored its prevalence and mechanisms in families and peer groups and increased the understanding of both those who scapegoat and those who are scapegoats. Notably, mimetic theory has emerged as a leading framework for understanding how and why groups scapegoat others, and the theory explains much about scapegoating in adolescent peer groups, such as bullying or cyberbullying. Despite this impressive research that highlights mechanisms and the importance of scapegoating, research still remains limited as it has not, for example,...
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Levesque, R.J.R. (2018). Scapegoating. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33228-4_595
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33228-4_595
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