Essay On Scapegoating

When people fight, they usually do so under the premise that their enemy has done something wrong. Whether or not the fighters are under a false premise, both parties know why they are fighting and why their enemy is fighting back. They are partaking in reciprocated violence; both parties are accusing the other of committing wrong against them. However, not all cases of violence are reciprocal. Some are unilateral, in which a large majority group is attacking a smaller group or person. One example of unilateral violence would be the act of scapegoating, when a group puts a minority at fault for their own troubles or mistakes. The practice of scapegoating has Biblical origins but has likely been used in prehistoric societies and it still lives

Earning enough money to just make ends meet or even failing to do so can cause tremendous stress within a family. These family units usually involve a working husband, a house-bound wife, and at least one child. In the most common scenario, the husband, tired from working a low-paying job, returns home and says something along the lines of, “I’m home. What’s there to eat?” The female figure, agitated from taking care of the housework and believing the husband to think only of himself replies, “It’s always about you isn’t it? You don’t ask about my day?” Thinking the wife doesn’t understand his hardships, the husband responds angrily, “Do you have any idea what I do for this household?” Due to the stress of earning a stable income, struggling to maintain a family, as well as living with people who don’t understand each other’s individual struggles, the two engage in reciprocal violence. However, once the reciprocated violence is over, the attention turns towards the child. Since the caretakers can't blame or direct their anger towards anyone else, the child suffers their combined wrath. The parents question the value of their child. They may say, “Why are you here?” or, “If not for you, we wouldn’t be stuck in this situation.” Whether it is emotional trauma or physical abuse, the child ultimately suffers. Usually, the child has no idea of why his or her parents are fighting. The child may start to begin to

Unfortunately for children born in low socioeconomic households, they are already breaking the norm as they are below average in comparison to the rest of society. However, if one is already a scapegoat, the only way to no longer be a scapegoat must be to have someone already aligned with the norm to help, which rarely happens. Otherwise, they are stuck as a scapegoat. Even if they were to question why and challenge the authority of those making them a scapegoat, nothing would change, and their situation could worsen, as their “aggressive” behavior gives those in the norm justification to treat them poorly. The future may appear bleak, but one must realize that scapegoating behavior reinforces group norms, and that it is impossible for every member of a group to continuously be part of the norm. More and more members of a group will be weeded out until the minority scapegoat population grows to the point where it can no longer be treated as scapegoats; the minority may even grow to the point where it outnumbers those who align with the