Scapegoats
Directions: Read the following selections from Gordon Allport's The Nature of Prejudice, and answer the questions .
Allport has contributed enormously to our understanding of the mechanisms of prejudice. According to his theory, prejudice grows out of personal frustration, which in turn generates aggressive feelings. When this aggression cannot be directed against the real cause of the frustration, the aggression is displaced onto relatively defenseless “scapegoats.” This displaced hostility is then rationalized and justified by blaming, projecting, and stereotyping.
The term "scapegoat" originated in the famous ritual of the Hebrews, described in the Book of Leviticus (16:20-22). On the Day of Atonement a live goat was chosen by lot The high priest, robed in linen garments, laid both his hands on the goat's head, and confessed over it the inequities of the children of Israel. The sins of the people thus symbolically transferred to the beast, it was taken out into the wilderness and let go. The people felt purged, and for the time being, guiltless.
The type of thinking here involved is not uncommon. From earliest times the notion has persisted that guilt and misfortune can be shifted from one man's back to another. If a load of wood can be shifted, why not a load of sorrow or a load of guilt?
Nowadays we are likely to label this mental process projection. In other people we see the fear, anger, lust that reside primarily in ourselves. It is not we ourselves who are responsible for our misfortunes, but other people. In our common speech we recognize this failing in such phrases as "whipping-boy," "taking it out on the dog," or "scapegoat. ..."
Yankees in a conservative Maine community may discriminate socially against the Italians or French-Canadians who live there—but the snobbery is relatively mild, and one can seldom see evidences of actual aggression (true scapegoating). On the other hand, a much more serious problem of antagonism exists in the case of other minorities (Jews, Negroes, Asians, Mexicans, Muslims) to whom the dominant majority has said, "We shall never accept you as one of us."
Just as it is impossible to tell dearly when a group is a scapegoat and when it is not so too we cannot find a clear formula that will cover the selection of scapegoats. The essence of the matter seems to be that different groups are singled out for different reasons.
There seems to be no such thing as an "all-duty scapegoat" although some groups come nearer to this objective than others. Perhaps today Jews and Negroes are blamed for the widest variety of evils. We note that these are inclusive social groups consisting of both sexes (and their children), which transmit social values and cultural traits. They are more or less permanent, definite, and stable.
(Scapegoats need not be lily-white in their innocence, but they always attract more blame, more animosity, more stereotyped judgment than can be rationally justified.) . . .
One reason for the popularity of the scapegoat theory is that it is easy to understand. Probably this fact is also an argument for its validity, for the case of understanding must be related in some way to the commonness of the experience. A storybook for seven-year-olds contains a clear example of the scapegoating theme. The tale runs as follows:
An enterprising pig with some ducks as companions is aloft in a rudderless balloon. A fanner with evil intentions is trying to capture the balloon, but the alert piglet pelts the fanner with cans of tomato soup. The farmer is spattered by the soup and thoroughly angry. A dirty-faced boy comes out of the barn to help him wipe off the soup. But the farmer cuffs the little boy good. He does this for three reasons: first, because the balloon had got away; and second, because he would now have to take a bath to get the stocky soup off him; and, third, because it seemed like a pretty good thing to do anyway.
The following case shows how a blend of home and school frustration may lead to prejudice. A college student writes:
I had honors all the way through school and one double promotion, but I did not have a straight "A" record. I was not happy. My father boasted that he had had only an A and A-plus record when he was in college, and at the same time held down a full-time job. He never let me forget it, and berated me for doing less well than he. I felt utterly frustrated. I wanted to please him but could not succeed. Finally I found comfort in telling myself and other people that it was only the Jewish grinds and cheats who did me out of the top position. (In thinking the matter over I realize that I do not know for a fact that the boys who excelled me in scholarship were Jews, or that they cheated.)

1. List one example of a scapegoat from the present time. Describe for what you think they are being blamed. Do you think the blame is justified?
2. Have you ever taken out your frustrations or anger on an innocent person? Describe the situation and why you acted this way.
3. Have you ever been blamed unjustly or used as a scapegoat by a friend, parent, teacher, or coach? Describe the experience and include a description of how you felt.