Scapegoating Dynamic LO16413

MHBerman (MHBerman@aol.com)
Sat, 3 Jan 1998 22:35:40 EST

Rol Fessenden in commenting on comments by At DeLange noted,
>At referred to scapegoating, and you go on to say it is an ancient
>political ploy. This is certainly true. But I believe At was making the
>point that people scapegoat, not as a ploy, but as a sincerely-meant
>analysis of why and how things fail to work as they intended. It is this
>form of scapegoating -- not the delibearte ploy, but the sincerely-held
>belief -- that is by far the most dangerous, the most self-limiting, the
>most inimical to learning.

I think scapegoating is a natural process which all groups employ as part
of their maturation. It has been my experience working with a wide variety
of work groups that scapegoating behavior is the inevitable consequence of
groups struggling to manage the experience of difference. Its most evident
where the group members are relating to each other primarily out of
stereotypic or superficial categories, e.g., race, sex, gender,
occupation, religion, etc.

Maybe if scapegoating were not viewed as inherently pathological it would
be easier for groups not to get stuck at this level of development. I've
found that groups can learn to outgrow scapegoating as a defense mechanism
when they are taught to manage differences and conflict in more functional
ways.

Marvin H. Berman, President
Organizational Systems Consulting
100 West Evergreen Ave.
Chestnut Hill, PA 19118
215-242-9002 voice
mhberman@aol.com

-- 


MHBerman <MHBerman@aol.com>


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