Post #1565140
2026-03-29 21:48 UTC
The person doing the scapegoating now has to articulate their dissatisfaction towards that part of you, that they see as the problem. The immediate effect is usually that the person doing the scapegoating gets slightly disarmed - it gets rid of most of the sadistic and unreasonable side to their complaining. But more interestingly, both parties now have an opportunity to explore the problem, because it is right there in the room - the part of you that identifies with the scapegoat!
Replies (1)
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@malte@radikal.social 2026-03-29 21:52
There are several challenges to this strategy. One common reaction is that the person doing the scapegoating will backpedal too fast and pretend there's no problem. Pass it off as a joke - there are many ways. If you want to uproot the scapegoating, don't accept this compliant behavior and demonstratively take the person more seriously than they now do themself. Confirm that you heard them say there's really a problem here and you're curious to hear more, because you might be part of the problem