Search

Research shows how blame shifting deemed unethical by evaluators leads to a damaging reputational backlash. Yet, scholars have not determined how evaluators judge if blame‐shifting messages are ethical. To fill this gap, we develop a conceptual model of evaluators' judgments of blame‐shifting ethicality, integrating insights from ethical decision‐making and the ethics of blame. The ethical evaluation of blame shifting is based on perceptions of target blameworthiness, the motives of the blamer, and message fairness. These three perceptions explain the evaluators' judgment of whether blame shifting is ethical. Furthermore, the model explains why at times evaluators fail to develop a detailed ethical evaluation of the message. Organizational blame shifting in these circumstances can be effective and yet unethical because evaluators do not cognitively process the relevant ethical factors. This article contributes to research on blame shifting by explaining how evaluators judge ethicality and examining the conditions for ethical blame shifting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing involvement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in moral decision situations raises the possibility of users attributing blame to AI-based systems for negative outcomes. In two experimental studies with a total of participants, we explored the attribution of blame and underlying moral reasoning. Participants had to classify mushrooms in pictures as edible or poisonous with support of an AI-based app. Afterwards, participants read a fictitious scenario in which a misclassification due to an erroneous AI recommendation led to the poisoning of a person. In the first study, increased system transparency through explainable AI techniques reduced blaming of AI. A follow-up study showed that attribution of blame to each actor in the scenario depends on their perceived obligation and capacity to prevent such an event. Thus, blaming AI is indirectly associated with mind attribution and blaming oneself is associated with the capability to recognize a wrong classification. We discuss implications for future research on moral cognition in the context of human–AI interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy beliefs entail a scapegoating function by attributing the consequences of crises, such as economic downturns, to the secret action of outgroups. While conspiracy beliefs have been described as reactions to economic threats, we argue that this factor alone is not sufficient. Rather, perceiving one's ingroup as unfairly deprived compared to other groups (i.e., group relative deprivation) might be key to explaining the situation in terms of secret, intentional wrongdoings. Furthermore, individuals high in national narcissism (i.e., a perceived lack of recognition of the ingroup's greatness), may be especially sensitive to this dynamic. Three pilot studies (N = 1237) attested the robustness of the link between group relative deprivation and conspiracy beliefs. Then, Study 1 (N = 812) revealed that the effect of group relative deprivation on conspiracy beliefs was moderated by national narcissism. In Study 2 (N = 728), we found effects of induced national narcissism and group relative deprivation on conspiracy beliefs in a fictitious setting. Study 3 (N = 846) replicated the moderation of national narcissism on the link between group relative deprivation and conspiracy beliefs at the cross‐sectional level. Overall, these studies provide evidence that conspiracy beliefs in reaction to group relative deprivation are especially likely among collective narcissists. We discuss the scapegoating function of conspiracy beliefs during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passage of human civilization into the new geological era of the Anthropocene raises the question of species extinction. How can we confront the possibility of collective death in a way that does not descend into uncontained anxiety or melancholy? Michel Serres's works in the Foundations and Humanism series offer critical insights into the way in which human violence and death operate as mechanisms for binding together human collectives. Serres draws attention to the role of "social technologies" based around sacrificial practices, the scapegoating mechanism, and the use of corpses as markers of social relations (or "statues"). He argues that these mythic logics and practices persist in modern societies and technoscience. They may also be at work in a modified way in the proposed technical solutions to climate change around space travel and planetary colonization. Drawing on the tradition of Folk Horror film-making and literature, it is argued that reversing the direction of travel, back into the Earth, provides better instruction about how to live and die in the Anthropocene. Reflection on the puteal sites where this may be accomplished will serve as the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies René Girard’s mimetic theory to analyze the escalation of violence against Jews in medieval Iberia during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It explores how economic, social, and religious factors fueled a mimetic crisis, leading to the scapegoating and eventual expulsion of Jews in 1492. The study highlights the importance of the "other" in constructing collective identities and scapegoats, particularly in the context of religious minorities like the Jews in medieval Iberia. Through Girard’s framework, the analysis highlights the dynamics of mimetic desire and mediation, offering insights into the interplay of violence, identity, and power in medieval societies.

The study of contagion offers important but underexplored opportunities to rethink and advance our understanding of key concepts in political science. These include notably state capacity; social policy; state–society relations, especially the role of trust; nationalism and social solidarity; exclusionary dynamics, such as xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination; and within political psychology, the role of emotions, including disgust. This article reviews studies on contagion and health within and adjacent to political science. While taking note of the surge of studies around COVID-19, this article focuses on work on infectious disease before and beyond the pandemic. It analyzes the scholarship as it sheds light on the control of infectious diseases, on the one hand, and on the consequences of that control, on the other, while also pointing to connections and feedback loops, especially as they open avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scapegoating and Conspiracy Theories during COVID-19 Antisemitism has unfortunately persisted throughout history, and the COVID-19 pandemic has not been an exception to this troubling trend. The conditions created by the pandemic, such as fear, uncertainty, and anxiety, have fueled the emergence and spread of conspiracy theories targeting various groups, including Jewish communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a plethora of baseless beliefs and conspiracy theories about its causes, which have contributed to the rise of antisemitism during this time. Pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inherently create anxiety and uncertainty among populations. This change has affected many areas, both political and social. Conspiracy theories that base the cause of the emergence of COVID-19 on Jewish identity are an essential factor for this study. Tendencies toward antisemitism and scapegoating have supported these conspiracy theories. In this study, how antisemitism manifested itself in media and online discourse during COVID-19 and how Jewish identity is affected by the process.

Copyright of Biblos: Revista da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra is the property of Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Enthymema is the property of Enthymema, International Journal of Literary Criticism, Literary Theory & Philosophy of Literature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ileti-s-im is the property of Universite Galatasaray, Faculty of Communication and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Compared to cognitive and behavioural spillover, emotional spillovers remain relatively undertheorised. This is the first paper to conceptualise discrete emotion spillover. In discrete emotion spillover, the content and valence of an emotion experienced towards target A spills over to target B, and indirectly influences subsequent behaviour towards target B. We test this model in two studies, examining the spillover of anger following corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). First, we show that anger spillover depends on attribution of blame, and leads to emotion-consistent outcomes (i.e. punitive behaviour). Second, we demonstrate the effectiveness of communication strategies that can reduce attribution of blame, thus limiting emotion spillover. We conclude by highlighting the implications of the proposed conceptualisation of discrete emotion spillover in other marketing contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of the contagious COVID-19 virus was quickly followed by an outbreak of explanations and discourses trying to make sense of the crisis. The goal of this paper is to track the changing dynamics of blame attribution and scapegoating in the Canadian population as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, with a particular emphasis on the influence of evolving public health measures. The study uses data from a longitudinal survey conducted with a representative sample of 3617 Canadians between April 2020 and May 2021 following a longitudinal design. Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a computational approach to analyze text, was applied to data coming from an open-ended question on who or what should be held responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine topics were identified, six of which were recurring overtime. Canadians mostly blame distant collectives in the early months of the pandemic, especially China and wet markets. Over time, they increasingly blame local collectives, such as individuals who do not comply with sanitary measures. Blame attribution evolves with the proximity of the threat and the risk of international spread.

Hezbollah intervened in the civil war in Syria when the Assad regime was under threat of overthrow. Its intervention caused criticism from Lebanese actors and therefore required the organization to find legitimate foundations upon which to base its involvement. Discourse and rhetoric were the first elements that changed following the organization's decision to intervene. Hezbollah revised its traditional discourse of security, which refers to Israel as the main threat, in 2013 and added an external enemy, the takfiris, which referred to fundamentalist groups in the civil war, as a new threat. However, it returned to its traditional discourse due to the domestic criticisms that followed. This study aims to explain the changing rhetoric of Hezbollah during the civil war in Syria through the frame of the diversionary theory of war. This theory claims that Hezbollah used a diversionary tactic to justify its intervention in the civil war and invented an external enemy as a threat to Lebanese security and territorial integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an initial qualitative exploration to (a) capture varied experiences of racial microaggressions directed at Chinese immigrant women before and during Covid and (b) investigate different forms and levels of microaggressions based on socioeconomic status, age, and other characteristics. Racial microaggressions were examined by interviewing 12 foreign‐born, Chinese immigrant women aged 23 to 80 years old, with most of the participants identified as middle class or above. Building upon previous scholarship on racial and gendered microaggressions, an analytical framework was developed using 12 major themes to identify and interpret discriminatory behaviors. Our main findings suggest that the research sample encountered more blatant hate incidents and expressed heightened concern over their physical safety in the post‐Covid period. Young women, compared to their older counterparts, were more inclined to report microaggression episodes and distinguish more subtle forms of discrimination. These findings could serve as preliminary evidence for future research.

In Twelfth Night (1601–02), the pressure to enforce a comedic ending competes with problematic and overtly abusive behaviors towards certain characters, particularly the steward Malvolio, who is identified as a target for scapegoating by a persecuting group. As Malvolio is subject to mounting pressures to take in the projections of the group, the mistreatment levied against him gains in cruelty, culminating with his imprisonment in a dark room. While the "pranksters" seek to drive him mad, the figures in power ensure their own narcissistically satisfying ending, at the expense of those stripped of control and dignity. The role of the audience becomes a complex matter by the end, as applauding a problematic play meant to be funny invites a degree of collusion with those who would enforce scapegoating dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a rule, the problem of globalization is confined to humans. Without downplaying the importance of this concern, one may note that other animals and their relations with humans constitute an issue that should find a significant place in global studies. The omission or exclusion of the human–other animal relationship may repeat, however unintentionally, a division that has been prevalent in history. Striking in its insistence and durability has been the quest or desire for a decisive criterion to serve as a basis on which to differentiate humans from other animals as well as the human from the animal within human beings. At issue in this decisive gesture or quest is both the nature of a judgment that creates a dichotomy between the human and the animal, as well as humans and other animals, and the consequences or implications this may have for interactions both among humans and between humans and other species. This chapter furthers the argument in favor of complex, qualified judgment that does not assume a decisive binary opposition or dichotomy between human and animal, is attentive to complex differences within what is classified as human or animal, and does not have self-serving, anthropocentric, oppressive or exploitative functions and consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the question of anti-Semitism through the dictionaries of lexicons as repositories of popular knowledge, from the perspective of how the concept of anti-Semitism has changed over 60 years of lexicon production and how genocide has left its mark on post-war dictionaries. The concept of political anti-Semitism, which emerged in the 19th century, appears in Hungarian lexicography at the end of the century in the crossfire of different interpretations and meanings. However, anti-Semitism first appeared as a historical concept in the 1910s, with reference to the anti-Semitic tendencies of the time. Between the two world wars, the spirit of the times reached the lexicons with, among other things, the,Jewish conquest'. The lexicons published after the Second World War were clearly influenced by the war. One linked genocide with anti-Semitism and treated it as a separate historical event, while the other offered a complex, historical and multi-causal explanation for the emergence of anti-Semitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January of 2014, comedian Bill Maher sought to alter Americans' perception of the federal political system through a satirical advocacy campaign named #FlipADistrict. Through an alternative reading of Kenneth Burke's understanding of satire, scapegoating, and mortification, I argue that #FlipADistrict fostered a critical sense of political awareness and responsibility in Maher's televised audience. By outlining a comically oriented form of satire or satyric satire, this essay connects political humour to Burke's comic frame. Rather than fostering cynicism, this essay posits that #FlipADistrict's comically oriented form of satire advocated Americans become aware of their piety to political partisanship or complacency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discourse of the Anthropocene expresses an interesting tension in the way human causation and guilt are framed. On the one hand, the Anthropos is a unique species, making historical, geographical and geological conquest single-handedly (to the exclusion of non-human subjects). A triumphant and increasingly dominant coloniser of a planet that ultimately falls very low, indeed. In the light of the impending climate catastrophe, the "age of man" no longer sounds so noble today. On the contrary, it becomes a testimony of discredit and decline, a sign of egoism and planetary destruction by one species. Among the many approaches and attempts to address and nuance the discourse and amidst the search for the most appropriate labels (e.g. Capitalocene, chtchulucene, ecozoic, etc.), it is the Anthropocene or post-Anthropocene that seem to remain the ones most frequently referred to in colloquial or journalistic discourse. A need arises to clearly identify the one to blame for the impending climatic apocalypse. Under conditions of crisis, during what Girard call undifferentiation, the Anthropos selects itself as the scapegoat, becoming both the unfortunate, guilt-ridden OTHER and the ruthless, violence-hungry MOB. Could René Girard's concept of mimesis and scapegoating help to understand the pattern of this dialectical, subversive strategy? If so, then perhaps it is to be expected that the stage of sacralisation of the victim, which crowns the logic of scapegoating, instead of overcoming it, will only perpetuate the apotheosis of human agency, dangerous from the point of view of the actual state of the planet. This time, these will be essentially anthropocentric and technologically advanced "escapes forward", such as exploitation of the moon or other planets, invasive prevention of further ice and greenhouse ages, deflecting asteroids so that they do not collide with Earth, and other, hardly predictable spectacular gestures of the triumphant Anthropos. The above questions are the subject matter of this article and a pretext for pedagogical reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History is abundant with authoritarian rulers who reluctantly delegated governance powers to other institutions. Nevertheless, the intriguing question is why would democratic powerful rulers delegate powers voluntarily to (probably) contrarian institutions and tolerate activism that impedes the implementation of their election commitments. I develop a principal-agent model based on Fiorina's (Congress: the Keystone of the Washington Establishment, Yale University Press, UK, 1977; Public Choice 39:33–66, 1982) blame-deflection hypothesis that politicians use the separation of powers principle as a shield against public criticism and accountability and addresses Stephenson's (Journal of Legal Studies 32:59–89. https://doi.org/10.1086/342038, 2003) criticism. I show that in subgame-perfect equilibrium, the agent manipulates the principal. The extended model embeds experience and impartial judiciary and shows that the equilibria are preserved, but social welfare is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical literature on narcissistic families has often described the presence of a family scapegoat. To date, however, no research has empirically explored this phenomenon. This study investigated the relationship between perceived parental vulnerable and grandiose narcissism and scapegoating, and the impact of these on the symptoms of anxiety and depression in emerging adults, in a sample of 504 Australian adults (Mage = 22.38, SDage = 3.63; 59.72% female, 38.09% male). A path model was tested, with perceived parental vulnerable and grandiose narcissism as predictors, scapegoating as a mediator, and participants' anxiety and depression as outcomes, controlling for demographic variables and participants' vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Results indicated that higher perceived paternal grandiose narcissism had a direct effect on anxiety and depression, whereas perceived maternal vulnerable narcissism, perceived paternal vulnerable narcissism, and perceived maternal grandiose narcissism had indirect effects on anxiety and depression via scapegoating. Effect sizes were generally small to medium. These findings show that scapegoating is an important variable linking parental narcissism with negative psychological outcomes such as anxiety and depression in emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German government struggled with the question of what to do to mitigate the COVID-related crisis. Since vaccines had become available for all, the focus turned to unvaccinated individuals. This paper investigates public communication about unvaccinated people and the possible social consequences of the latter. For this purpose, selected statements of politicians and medical/scientific representatives are analyzed. Some representatives put the responsibility for the ongoing pandemic on unvaccinated people. They were pictured as supporters of conspiracy theories or as individuals that lacked cognitive or social competences. In order to persuade them to be vaccinated, several measures were suggested. To enhance the persuasion, political communication sometimes seemed to simplify or even neglect scientific knowledge. Finally, it is critically discussed what it could mean for society and the handling of the crisis if the described social representations of unvaccinated people reflected, at least to some extent, public understanding; this includes stigmatization, scapegoating and fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many utopian visions operate by scapegoating an Otherness. They blame an 'enemy' for an unbearable, dystopian current reality, holding the 'enemy' responsible for it or for obstructing the passage to a desired, new reality. Then they exclude (or even promise the elimination of) this 'enemy'. Despite the renewed interest in utopias, such utopian frames remain theoretically neglected or, worse, they are considered typical of the logical structure of utopianism. This paper aims to show that this issue merits a different political-philosophical attention. We begin with operations of utopian predicates in the relevant scholarship and distinguish them from the operations of the term 'incriminatory' that we are introducing. We term incriminatory the kind of utopian frame whose future-oriented, idealized and desired image is constructed in and through an incriminated 'Other'. We indicate the re-conceptualizing merits of this new term and then we discuss the affirmative utopianism that does not incriminate a specific Other. Our main argument, which we deploy contra Yannis Stavrakakis's position, is that utopias are not unavoidably or inherently incriminatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revija za Sociologiju is the property of Revija za Sociologiju and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper provides a comparative critical discourse analysis of news discourse on terrorism with respect to the coverage by two Swedish and two UK broadsheet newspapers of the terrorists attacks that took place in Stockholm and in London respectively in the year 2017. The research goal is to investigate the type of discourses mobilized that help enact a 'politics of fear', and to compare the constitutive elements of this rhetoric within the same, and across the two national contexts. The findings point to three major representations as points on a continuum of discourses that emphatically affirm, give rise to, but also resist and counteract, a politics of fear. The paper sheds light on processes of normalization at work in the routine discursive practices of press coverage, but also to the rise of counter-discourses that resist, downplay, or take a critical stance toward the core elements of a politics of fear. It is argued that these latter discursive practices may work in the opposite direction, namely to de-normalize or marginalize a dominant politics of fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the gender-blind perception of the social work profession in Croatia and its relation to domestic violence cases. In the past few years, the media and the public have routinely expressed outrage at social workers for not preventing severe cases of violence against women and children. The shift from state socialism to capitalism in Croatian society has considerably affected the profession of social work and facilitated the defunding and understaffing of the welfare sector. I argue that a more nuanced, gendered approach is needed in demanding prevention work from social work centres (SWC). Most studies on the causes of burnout in social workers have ignored the feminisation of the profession and the gendered implication of their precarious professional position and responsibility to protect and help the most vulnerable members of society. The perceptions of social work by other experts working with cases of domestic violence and social workers themselves are important to comprehend a bigger picture of professional judgment and attributions of blame. In-depth interviews were conducted with experts working with domestic violence, including the police, judges, prosecutors, social workers, feminist NGO coordinators, and women’s shelter workers. The feminisation of social work and systemic undervaluing of care work contribute to the easy targeting of social workers while leaving the patriarchal institutionalisation unexplored. For this reason, I conclude that social workers would benefit from class and gender solidary with their clients to fight patriarchal biases.

IntroductionAs South Korean companies frequently use apologies for various crisis situations and pair them with other types of crisis response strategies (i.e., scapegoating), theory-driven recommendations for crisis response messages may fall short in practice. This study empirically examines the effectiveness of two crisis response messages (i.e., apology + compensation vs. apology + scapegoating) by integrating the theory of communicative responsibility and situational crisis communication theory.MethodsSouth Korean participants (n = 392) read one of two vignettes: the vignettes described an automobile company’s apology for malfunctioning seat belts which included either compensation or scapegoating. The participant’s perceived communicative responsibility, appropriateness of the apology, and reputation of the company were measured. Process analysis was conducted to examine the mediated-moderation effect of the crisis response messages.Results and DiscussionThe findings indicate that an apology that is provided with compensation is more appropriate than those with scapegoating. The appropriateness is moderated by the perceived symmetry in communicative responsibility, and fully mediates the relationship between apology type and reputation. This study integrates two theoretical models to examine the mechanism behind the crisis response strategies from the perspective of the message receivers, while considering the cultural and normative context of South Korea.

The essay provides a take, by a historian, on the 2022 Ukraine war. It draws attention to the fact that, over the past 20 years, terms such as "game-changer" or "turning point" have been frequently employed to characterize important junctures. However, 2022 is qualitatively different from all of these, as it represents the antithesis to 1989 and marks the end of an entire era. From the leadership perspective, one immediate effect of a turning point is the reckoning with the past that it entails. It forces a rethink on past behavior. And this collective cognitive rewiring triggers the questioning of the legacy of leaders associated with the now discredited course of action. Taking the example of the crisis of conscience currently underway in Germany, the essay cautions against scapegoating that relies on retrospective selection bias; suggesting instead, that the focus of attention should be shifted to the collective cognitive blinders that prevented the numerous Cassandras, who understood the genuine nature of Putinist aggression, from being listened to. The essay then turns its attention to the proliferation of historical analogies and comparisons, arguing that this tells us less about the event and more about the fact that our compasses have gone haywire. As corollaries of our profound disarray, they even prevent us from gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon. This is addressed in the final part, which includes reflections on Putin as a leader, Putinist followership, as well as the challenges Western leaders are likely to face in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mavi Atlas is the property of Mavi Atlas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article investigates Alexis Wright’s novel Carpentaria (2006) through the lens of the mimetic theory developed by René Girard, which I combined with Jean Price-Mars’ definition of “collective bovarism” and Umberto Eco’s narrative semiotics. In my close reading of the novel, I explore how the author exposes the detrimental mimetic mechanisms hidden behind characters’ behaviours and relationships to articulate a discourse on the risks of assimilation and the necessity for Aboriginal resistance to neocolonialism. I argue that in Carpentaria the emulation of the dominant society’s values and beliefs by assimilated Indigenous characters results in the social disintegration and vulnerability of the Indigenous communities. Not only do mimetic mechanisms negatively affect the epistemic systems of Aboriginal characters in terms of preparedness to climate change, but they also undermine their social cohesion and physical survival. Furthermore, investigating the text at a semiotic level, I identified some thematic isotopies that Wright uses to emphasise the racial bias and dehumanising attitudes towards black people embedded in the neocolonial gaze. Prioritising the textual dimension of the novel, my approach focuses on how the sociocultural and physical vulnerability of the Indigenous characters is depicted at a philosophical, rhetorical and narratological level. My investigation focuses on four narrative places: the dump, the city, the Pricklebush and the ocean.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the strategy of constructing the disease as a threat caused by foreigners, and attempts to put the blame on the "other" went hand in hand with the outbreak. The accusatory index fingers were mostly aimed at immigrants. The xenophobic rhetoric that immigrants are potential carriers of the virus and pose a deadly health threat has become a central theme for populist politicians advocating curbing immigration. Under the pretext of containing the spread of the virus, some governments have instrumentalized the pandemic to justify strict immigration policies towards immigrants. This article attempts to provide a theoretical explanation of the tendency to scapegoat immigrants in crises. In addition, the news reports from reliable media organizations and the publications prepared by international organizations are examined and the practices of blaming immigrants for COVID-19 are evaluated. The study reveals that some politicians scapegoated immigrants by instrumentalizing COVID-19 to legitimize anti-immigration and these politicians, who were determined to have populist nationalist tendencies, used metaphors such as war, enemy, invasion in their discourses in order to construct the outbreak as an external threat. The study also displays that the tendency to blame immigrants is based on historical and cultural prejudices and that the infodemic is one of the most important factors that ignite the scapegoat mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group analysts seldom write about the risk of harming their patients. Yet it is now widely recognized that all psychotherapies come with a small risk of harm and this risk has remained since it was first identified in the 1970s. In the wider group psychotherapy literature, risk of harm has been linked to the poor management of conflict and scapegoating, the misuse of interpretation, narcissistic leadership and unsuitability or lack of preparation of patients. Group analytic writers have examined each of these areas to varying degrees but not from the perspective of harm to the patient. This article highlights this 'blind spot' within the profession and signals the need for action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to investigate the influence of plague on Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, The Harafish (1977), which traces the changes that take place in an unnamed Egyptian alley after it has been struck by the plague. Crucially, the plague, along with its biomedical effect, plays a central role in the de/formation of the community’s sociopolitical structure. To approach Mahfouz’s novel as a plague narrative, the study utilizes Rene Girard’s theory of plague and literature that combines concepts such as reversal, undifferentiating, violence, and scapegoating. Following a Girardian perspective, the concepts of reversal and undifferentiation are used to explore the collapse of the prepandemic sociopolitical order, and the formation of a new structure in which the harafish, led by Ashur al-Naji, take control of the alley’s sources of power and wealth. Although undifferentiation becomes the ruling principle, violence, like the plague, infects the alley. Violence, through mimesis, becomes contagious and ends a sacrificial crisis. The study ultimately concludes that there is a close relationship between the plague’s biomedical and sociopolitical influence. Approaching The Harafish as a plague narrative adds value to the current scholarly and academic discourse over Mahfouz’s work itself and the post-COVID19 world crisis as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper intends to discuss the amount to which scapegoating (as understood by René Girard in ‘The Scapegoat’) can be applied to Camus’s novel ‘The Stranger’. While issues arise when we are trying to apply Girard’s definition of scapegoating to the famous novel by Camus, this paper shall try to prove that they are only apparent issues, and that the novel is a perfect illustration of Girard’s theory.

This study aims to investigate the representation of violence, revenge, and scapegoating in three Indonesian short stories, i.e. “Kuli Kontrak” [The Contract Coolie] by Mochtar Lubis, “Tukang Cukur” [The Barber] by Budi Darma, and “Akhir Perjalanan Gozo Yoshimasu” [The End of Gozo Yoshimasu’s Journey] by Sori Siregar. Content analysis method is applied to read the short stories in light of René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire and sacpegoating. The study reveals that first, violence as repercussion of mimetic desires and rivalry can occur between individuals, individuals to groups, and groups to individuals; and violence is contagious and spreads quickly. Second, revenge which is a direct impact of rivalry in the three short stories takes place on behalf of women, bloodshed, and power; and the most corrosive is power. Third, the scapegoat mechanism in these short stories has different causes and implications; while the similarity is that the scapegoat manifests in the defeated and marginalized personas. They are sacrificed to break the chains of violence and to bring peace. Abstrak Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengamati representasi kekerasan, balas dendam, dan pengambinghitaman dalam tiga cerpen Indonesia, yaitu “Kuli Kontrak” karya Mochtar Lubis, “Tukang Cukur” karya Budi Darma, dan “Akhir Perjalanan Gozo Yoshimasu” karya Sori Siregar. Metode content analysis digunakan dalam penelitian ini dengan terang teori hasrat mimesis dan kambing hitam dari René Girard. Penelitian ini menghasilkan tiga temuan. Pertama, kekerasan sebagai buntut hasrat mimesis dapat terjadi antarindividu, inividu terhadap kelompok, dan kelompok terhadap individu. Kekerasan bersifat menular serta menyebar dengan cepat. Kedua, aksi balas dendam yang merupakan dampak langsung rivalitas dalam ketiga cerpen terjadi atas nama perempuan, kucuran darah, dan kekuasaan. Dari ketiga hal tersebut yang paling korosif adalah kekuasaan. Ketiga, mekanisme kambing hitam pada ketiga cerpen memiliki penyebab dan siratan yang berbeda-beda, sedangkan persamaannya adalah kambing hitam mewujud dalam diri tokoh-tokoh yang kalah dan terpinggirkan. Mereka dikorbankan untuk memutus rantai kekerasan sehingga dapat membawa perdamaian.

Stigma is a fundamental driver of adverse health outcomes. Although stigma is often studied at the individual level to focus on how stigma influences the mental and physical health of the stigmatized, considerable research has shown that stigma is multilevel and structural. This paper proposes a theoretical approach that synthesizes the literature on stigma with the literature on scapegoating and divide‐and‐rule as strategies that the wealthy and powerful use to maintain their power and wealth; the literatures on racial, gender, and other subordination; the literature on ideology and organization in sociopolitical systems; and the literature on resistance and rebellion against stigma, oppression and other forms of subordination. we develop a model of the "stigma system" as a dialectic of interacting and conflicting structures and processes. Understanding this system can help public health reorient stigma interventions to address the sources of stigma as well as the individual problems that stigma creates. On a broader level, this model can help those opposing stigma and its effects to develop alliances and strategies with which to oppose stigma and the processes that create it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that external threats, such as financial crises and natural disasters, might fuel negative attitudes, emotions, and behaviors towards outgroup members. However, it is unclear what types of outgroups are likely to be targeted when an external threat is taking its toll. In this study, we examine two types of outgroups that might be at risk of becoming victims of intergroup hostility. The first is the "ultimate scapegoat" outgroup which has a long history of negative relations with the ingroup. The second is the "context-dependent" outgroup which is viewed as an outgroup only in certain contexts. We utilized the COVID-19 crisis and the highly diverse social makeup of Israeli society to explore the extent to which each type of outgroup would be targeted. Results from our study (N = 664), conducted during the first peak of COVID-19 in Israel, show that higher levels of exposure to COVID-19 predicted lower willingness to aid outgroups and that outgroup dehumanization mediated this association. However, this held true only when the target outgroup was a context-dependent outgroup. When the target group was the ultimate scapegoat, exposure to COVID-19 did not predict ingroup willingness to aid them. Our findings contribute to our theoretical and practical knowledge on how intergroup hostility proliferates during external threats and, as such, are valuable to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers working to reduce intergroup tensions during large-scale crises. • Exposure to COVID-19 heightened intergroup tensions in a highly diverse society. • The exposure increased dehumanization and lowered willingness to aid outgroups. • Only outgroups perceived as related to the threat were affected by COVID-19 exposure. • The effect of COVID-19 on willingness to aid was mediated by dehumanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological theory and historical precedent suggest that pandemics engender scapegoating of outgroups, but fail to specify how the ethnoracial boundaries defining outgroups are drawn. Using a survey experiment that primed half of the respondents (California registered voters) with questions about COVID‐19 during April 2020, we ask how the pandemic influenced attitudes toward immigration, diversity and affect toward Asian Americans. In the aggregate, the COVID prime did not affect attitudes toward immigrants, but did reduce support for policies opening a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and reduced appreciation of California's diversity. Respondents reported rarely feeling anger or fear toward Asian Americans, and rates were unaffected by the COVID prime. A non‐experimental comparison between attitudes toward immigrants in September 2019 and April 2020 found a positive change, driven by change among Asian‐American and Latino respondents. The results provide selective support for the proposition that pandemics engender xenophobia. At least in April 2020 in California, increased bias crimes against Asian Americans more likely reflected politicians' authorization of scapegoating than broad‐based racial antagonism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to anthropological philosopher René Girard (1923–2015), an important human adaptation is our propensity to victimize or scapegoat. He argued that other traits upon which human sociality depends would have destabilized primate dominance-based social hierarchies, making conspecific conflict a limiting factor in hominin evolution. He surmised that a novel mechanism for inhibiting intragroup conflict must have emerged contemporaneously with our social traits, and speculated that this was the tendency to spontaneously unite around the victimization of single individuals. He described an unconscious tendency to both ascribe blame and to imbue the accused with a sacred mystique. This emotionally cathartic scapegoat mechanism, he claimed, enhanced social cohesion, and was the origin of religion, mythology, sacrifice, ritual, cultural institutions, and social norms. It would have functioned by modifying the beliefs and behaviors of the group, rather than of the accused, making the act of accusation more important than the substance. This article aims to examine the empirical evidence for Girard's claims, and argues that the scapegoat hypothesis has commonalities with several other evolutionary hypotheses, including Wrangham's execution hypothesis on self-domestication, Dunbar's hypothesis on the role of storytelling in maintaining group stability, and DeScioli and Kurzban's hypothesis on the role of non-consequentialist morality in curtailing conflict. Potential implications of the scapegoat hypothesis for evolutionary psychology and psychiatry are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research on scapegoating argues that this crisis communication strategy is often ineffective because it can be perceived as an unfair attempt at shifting blame. In contrast, a few studies have shown that scapegoating can be effective by increasing the perceived ethicality of the sender relative to the target that is presented as responsible for wrongdoing. Reconciling these inconsistent findings, we show that the relative effectiveness of scapegoating depends on the perceptions of the sender and of the target. Our findings show that both the positioning of the sender as an underdog or a top dog and the positive or negative CSR record of the target contribute to explaining the effectiveness of scapegoating. Following a crisis, scapegoating appears to be most effective when the sender is an underdog and the target has a negative CSR record. The effectiveness of scapegoating for an underdog is however reduced when the target has a positive CSR record. At the opposite end, scapegoating might backfire when the sender is a top dog that attacks a target with a positive CSR record. Finally, when a top dog attacks a target with a negative CSR record, scapegoating reduces negative word of mouth even though this effect does not appear to be mediated by perceived ethicality. The study contributes to research on scapegoating communications and on the consequences of an underdog positioning and a positive CSR record for companies trying to manage the negative fallout from an ethical crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1945 to 1950, a number of unexplained disappearances occurred in the vicinity of Bennington, Vermont. During the same period, the author Shirley Jackson moved to North Bennington, while her friend Kenneth Burke (a colleague of her husband at Bennington College) published two pivotal works of theory, A Grammar of Motives (1945) and A Rhetoric of Motives (1950). Although the disappearances have previously been noted as a context of Jackson’s fiction, especially the short story “The Missing Girl”, this article applies a Burkeian lens to analyse how Jackson used the disappearances to explore the effects of what Burke calls “the hierarchal psychosis” on young women and rural New England society.

The scapegoating of 'angry black women' achieves the paradoxical feat of ascribing power while simultaneously taking it away. This article aims to highlight how women of colour may be scapegoated as a result of intersecting, deep-rooted, and malignant forces operating within the (un)conscious, with a particular focus on racism. A lack of relevant literature is identified so to better understand the causation and effects of this phenomenon, group analytic concepts are cross-pollinated with black feminist, white feminist, and black political theory. It is suggested that conductors could do more to manage destructive forces in groups and so three anti-racist approaches are proposed. Concluding thoughts note that if our groups are permeated by the social, the same may be said of our theoretical framework. It is hoped that by consulting other specialist disciplines and integrating their knowledge into group analytic training and professional practice, our aims of being more inclusive, accessible, and diverse become ever-more attainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a conflict a pre-service physics teacher experienced while completing a teaching practicum at a religious high school that supported creationism. As a result of the conflict, the pre-service teacher was scapegoated by the staff and students at the school. An analysis of the projective dynamics involved in this conflict are explored including scapegoating, psychic inflation, fanaticism for science, and what was constellated in the pre-service teacher's personal, familial, and cultural unconscious. In examining the pre-service teacher's unconscious, it will be suggested that religion is part of the pre-service teacher's repressed shadow and the cooperating/mentor teacher's religious projections helped to constellate this shadow element. By examining the conflicts that arise between pre-service teachers and their cooperating teachers as a result of psychodynamics and differing worldviews, educators can begin to understand how analytical psychology may be applied so that such conflicts may be depotentiated in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies faced with a crisis sometimes blame others in their communications, when they feel that responsibility for the negative event lies elsewhere. Research has argued that stakeholders often react negatively to this type of message, because they perceive them as an unfair attempt to deny responsibility. In four experiments, examining blame directed at an employee and a supplier, we complement existing research by demonstrating that blame-giving messages can be persuasive in certain circumstances. Blame-giving communications can improve perceptions of firm ethicality more than apologies or an absence of corporate communication. This effect, in turn, reduces negative word-of-mouth intentions. The study identifies several boundary conditions for this effect. For blame-giving to be effective, a credible third party needs to identify who is responsible for wrongdoing, and the company needs to use vivid communication with detailed information about the culprit. Furthermore, blame-giving can backfire: when stakeholders doubt the company's honesty, this type of messaging is seen as manipulative. The study contributes to a developing research stream on the relative effectiveness of different types of crisis communications by demonstrating that, in certain circumstances, blame-giving messages are more persuasive than apologies. Moreover, our analysis offers guidelines on how to design these messages to make them acceptable to stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large carnivores are ecologically important, but their behaviour frequently put them in conflict with humans. I suggest that a spatial co-occurrence of suitable habitat and relatively poor socioeconomic conditions in rural areas may contribute to inflated human–carnivore conflict. Here, I test if there is potential for such an explanation for the human–wolf conflict in Sweden, a conflict that is arguably not congruent with the costs and damages imposed by the wolf population. I found negative correlations between wolf habitat suitability within Swedish municipalities and indicators of their relative socioeconomic conditions. I argue that geographic socioeconomic inequality may contribute to the Swedish human-wolf conflict, partly by the use of wolves as symbols for socioeconomic dissent and partly by using them as scapegoats for socioeconomic conditions. Therefore, regional policies aimed at alleviating geographic socioeconomic inequities may create a more favourable environment for solving the human-wolf conflict in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scapegoating – attributing inordinate blame for a negative outcome to a target individual or group – is considered an important driver of discrimination by psychologists, but has received little attention by economists. This paper helps fill the gap by providing evidence for scapegoating in a natural setting. Using data on three million driving tests held in Israel, I find that an increase in the number of unrelated traffic accident fatalities leads driving testers to discriminate against out-group students. Scapegoating characterizes all groups of testers – Jewish and Arab, male and female – and works to increase ethnic in-group bias and decrease gender out-group bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years, violence against doctors and healthcare workers has been a growing social issue in China. In a recent series of studies, we provided evidence for a motivated scapegoating account of this violence. Specifically, individuals who feel that the course of their (or their family member's) illness is a threat to their sense of control are more likely to express motivation to aggress against healthcare providers. Drawing on existential theory, we propose that blaming and aggressing against a single individual represents a culturally afforded scapegoating mechanism in China. However, in an era of healthcare crisis (i.e., the global COVID-19 pandemic), it is essential to understand cultural variation in scapegoating in the context of healthcare. We therefore undertook two cross-cultural studies examining how people in the United States and China use different scapegoating responses to re-assert a sense of control during medical uncertainty. One study was conducted prior to the pandemic and allowed us to make an initial validating and exploratory investigation of the constructs of interest. The second study, conducted during the pandemic, was confirmatory and investigated mediation path models. Across the two studies, consistent evidence emerged that, both in response to COVID-related and non-COVID-related illness scenarios, Chinese (relative to U.S.) individuals are more likely to respond by aggressing against an individual doctor, while U.S. (relative to Chinese) individuals are more likely to respond by scapegoating the medical industry/system. Further, Study 2 suggests these culture effects are mediated by differential patterns of primary and secondary control-seeking.

For years, violence against doctors and healthcare workers has been a growing social issue in China. In a recent series of studies, we provided evidence for a motivated scapegoating account of this violence. Specifically, individuals who feel that the course of their (or their family member's) illness is a threat to their sense of control are more likely to express motivation to aggress against healthcare providers. Drawing on existential theory, we propose that blaming and aggressing against a single individual represents a culturally afforded scapegoating mechanism in China. However, in an era of healthcare crisis (i.e., the global COVID-19 pandemic), it is essential to understand cultural variation in scapegoating in the context of healthcare. We therefore undertook two cross-cultural studies examining how people in the United States and China use different scapegoating responses to re-assert a sense of control during medical uncertainty. One study was conducted prior to the pandemic and allowed us to make an initial validating and exploratory investigation of the constructs of interest. The second study, conducted during the pandemic, was confirmatory and investigated mediation path models. Across the two studies, consistent evidence emerged that, both in response to COVID-related and non-COVID-related illness scenarios, Chinese (relative to U.S.) individuals are more likely to respond by aggressing against an individual doctor, while U.S. (relative to Chinese) individuals are more likely to respond by scapegoating the medical industry/system. Further, Study 2 suggests these culture effects are mediated by differential patterns of primary and secondary control-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]