What does scapegoating mean?
Scapegoating describes a familiar social and political practice: identifying a person or group and making it responsible for problems that originated elsewhere. The term commonly refers to blame that is unfair, exaggerated, or strategically assigned to protect those in power, though it can also describe any deliberate attempt to redirect responsibility onto a convenient target. As a noun, scapegoating names the practice; as a verb, it describes the act of blaming someone in this way. The expression often appears in discussions of workplaces, politics, families, schools, and institutions, where identifying a culprit can be easier than confronting complicated causes. Its strong negative connotation distinguishes it from ordinary blame, which may sometimes be justified. Understanding the word is useful because scapegoating can conceal deeper problems, discourage accountability, and create serious harm for those made to bear blame they do not deserve.
The act of blaming a person or group for problems, failures, or wrongdoing for which they are not responsible.
"The investigation found evidence of scapegoating rather than a genuine assessment of responsibility."
Commonly used with a critical, evaluative meaning, especially when the blamed party is innocent or only partly responsible.
To blame a person or group for problems or failures they did not cause, often in order to avoid examining the underlying causes.
"The official was accused of scapegoating local workers after the service collapsed."
Usually takes a person, group, or institution as its object and carries a strongly negative connotation.
The plural is grammatical but uncommon; in ordinary usage, the uncountable singular “scapegoating” is usually preferred.
"The report documented repeated scapegoatings of employees during periods of declining performance."
The word comes from an ancient ritual in which a goat symbolically carried away a community’s sins; today, blaming that animal’s modern descendants can erase the real causes of a problem.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does scapegoating come from?
The word derives from “scapegoat,” which in turn refers to the goat that was sent away bearing the community’s sins in the ritual described in the biblical Book of Leviticus. The figurative sense of a person blamed for others’ faults developed from this religious image. “Scapegoating” follows the same semantic path, shifting from the ritualized transfer of guilt to the modern practice of unfairly assigning blame.
Related word forms
How scapegoating is actually used
The word usually has a critical connotation: it implies that the blame is unjust, disproportionate, or used to avoid responsibility. It can be used formally in reporting and analysis, while stronger informal forms such as “throwing someone under the bus” convey a similar idea in less formal registers.
Easily confused with scapegoating
A scapegoat is the person or group blamed for others’ problems, whereas scapegoating is the act of assigning that blame.