A family scapegoat is a person who takes on the role of 'black sheep' or 'problem child' in their family and gets shamed, blamed, and criticized for things that go wrong within the family unit, even when these things are entirely outside of their control.
A scapegoated child may feel isolated to the point that they do not know how to bring attention to the pain they are feeling. In these cases, self-harm or self-sabotaging behaviors could help to draw attention to their suffering.
As adults, scapegoated children may find themselves paralyzed with fear when they consider dissenting in work environments or with their partners. Disagreeing with someone brings oneself into the forefront. The act delineates the self in stark relief.
A scapegoat is a person or group you place blame on. When scapegoating children, the child is blamed or shamed for all the issues that arise within dysfunctional households.
Why a parent decides to scapegoat a child tends not to make any sense because this behavior is rooted in dysfunction. For example, a child who is sensitive, inquisitive, attractive, and smart might be perceived as a threat and scapegoated by a parent who lacks these qualities.
Of the child roles in the narcissistic family, the entitled and enmeshed golden child is probably most likely to develop a narcissistic personality. However, being scapegoated can also lead to narcissism, particularly the covert form.
Research shows that scapegoating allows a parent to think of the family as healthier than it is. Scapegoating lets a parent minimize responsibility for and explain negative outcomes, enhancing a sense of control. The scapegoat role can be rotating, or it can target one child specifically.
A family scapegoat is a person who takes on the role of 'black sheep' or 'problem child' in their family and gets shamed, blamed, and criticized for things that go wrong within the family unit, even when these things are entirely outside of their control.
For individuals, scapegoating is a psychological defense mechanism of denial through projecting responsibility and blame on others. [2] It allows the perpetrator to eliminate negative feelings about him or herself and provides a sense of gratification.
Studies have shown that the scapegoat does better in life than the “golden child”. Because they have had to fend for themselves most of their life, and haven't been spoiled like the golden child has. The scapegoat is forced to be more independent, and think for themselves, and be stronger.
The novel ends with de Gué forcing John to change places with him again so that he (de Gué) can resume his role as head of the family. In the film, Spence makes it clear that he intends to kill Standing and dispose of his body in the glasswork's furnace.
Everything that goes well becomes associated with the golden child's goodness, while everything that goes wrong is blamed on the scapegoat. The golden child recognizes the inequity of this, and feelings of guilt for the treatment of their siblings may be carried into adulthood.
Examples of Scapegoating
Most people engage in scapegoating at one time or another. A person who blames his or her partner for a burglary because he or she left the door unlocked or left a valuable possession visible is scapegoating.
A Scapegoat can become too rebellious and feel hard done by, which becomes harmful. The invisible child seeks to serve others to feel validated, and also need other people to admire and serve, like the Golden Child, and another narcissistic type.
According to the American Psychological Association, scapegoating is “the process of directing one's anger, frustration, and aggression onto others and targeting them as the source of one's problems and misfortunes.” The word's origin is an ancient Jewish tradition in which a goat was symbolically sent into the ...
Scapegoating is defined by dictionary.com as “the act or practice of assigning blame or failure to another, as to deflect attention or responsibility away from oneself.” Cheating individuals often use scapegoating as a form of Gaslighting, scooping blame onto their partner in order to justify their extracurricular ...
Those who scapegoat are aware of their negativity and blaming. Unconsciously, though, scapegoating often reflects feelings about ourselves that make us deeply uncomfortable, whether they stem from struggling financially, failing at relationships, or being terrified of loss of control, illness or death.
A narcissist will decide who their scapegoat is based on their own fears, feelings of jealousy, sense of inadequacy and insecurities. From a narcissist's perspective, a scapegoat is someone who somehow triggers their fears, feelings of jealousy, sense of inadequacy and insecurities.
The Golden Child is trained to not support the Scapegoat, and to treat as less than, to neglect and to be unaware of their needs, just like the narcissist.
They manipulate others to support their distorted version of reality. All the while, they enjoy the feeling of power they get from making the scapegoat suffer. The narcissist is driven by envy, jealousy and a lack of empathy.
The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat is the opposite of the Hero role, and is seen as the problem of the family. The Scapegoat is also referred to as the “black sheep” of the family, and has a hard time fitting in and relating to the other family members. His/her behavior is seen as bad and never good enough.
A good example of the scapegoat is Simba in The Lion King. His evil Uncle Scar is responsible for King Mufasa's death and lays the blame on Simba, even though Mufasa was Simba's mentor. The young prince flees the pride lands before he is aware of the accusations. He didn't even know he was the scapegoat until late on.
In the Bible, Azazel is called the scapegoat because the original Hebrew was translated into 'the goat who departs. ' In the context of the first mention of the scapegoat (or Azazel) in Leviticus 16, the scapegoat was a goat who took on the sins of the Israelites and was set free into the wilderness.