Scapegoat Theory

 History is rife with examples of scapegoating in action:

 In Hebrew culture, the scapegoat was an actual animal and the sins of the group were shed onto the animal during the Day of Atonement and that animal was then driven out to die in the wilderness.


Ancient Greeks would choose a beggar or cripple or criminal (they called them pharmakos) to be cast out of society as a result of a natural disaster or major catastrophe.
 

Henry VIII scapegoated his wives, blaming them for his inability to sire a healthy, male heir.

The witch burnings were another pretty good example: Take a group of people who exist outside of acceptable societal norms (often female and unmarried or widowed, frequently in possession of enough material wealth to preclude remarriage, in possession of "otherworldly" knowledge), add a dash of fear and Voila! A concrete group to blame for any and all societal ills.

And then there were the Jews. Jews were (and still are in some parts of the world) a popular group for blame, most notably, their persecution during WWII. By dehumanizing an entire group, the Nazi party was able to successfully project all the hurts and dissatisfaction carried over from the First World War onto a group of people that were just as likely to be suffering under the economic depression as the average Christian German.

One of the weirder scapegoating episodes I remember from history class was the persecution of cats as familiars of the devil. Pope Gregory IX told people that cats were diabolical and in 1232 encouraged people to slaughter them as a way to drive out demonic forces and influence. Ironically enough, some researchers point to the slaughter of domesticated cats as a reason that the spread of the plague was so virulent.

Even "modern" media makes much of this idea: shows like The Honeymooners and movies like Apocalypse Now feature reoccurring themes of scapegoating as characters struggle to obtain their goals.

In nearly every culture and nearly every period of history, someone was blaming someone else for their misfortune.

Psychology takes this idea and explores  the why behind the practice.

Exploring Social Psychology has this to say of the Scapegoat Theory:

"Frustration (the blocking of a goal) often evoke hostility. 

When the cause of our frustration is intimidating or unknown, 

we often redirect our hostility." (p261)

That seems fairly straightforward, right? Everyone wants to be able to explain things. When they can't point to something directly, they get angry and as the anger grows the need for a target does as well. The oldest book of the bible is totally centered on this idea. The military uses the axiom "shit rolls downhill." Every child does it to a sibling or a pet. Girls do it when they get dumped. Boys do it when they're defeated. It's the reason for self-handicapping.

People want a concrete thing to point at when things go wrong.

Hang on, let me repeat that again.

People want a concrete thing to point at when things go wrong. 

We want to have that Aha! moment. We need somewhere to aim our feelings. 

In scapegoat theory however, the finger is pointed out at an external object and the person/group is able to do something about it. In a way, it's a more active form of self serving bias. By actively seeking to place blame for failures on a scapegoat, we are able to more easily retain a favorable self image and a higher sense of self esteem.