Scapegoating operates through collective frustrations and ideology, not individual aggression.

Evidence

Theoretical developments since the 1950s suggest that scapegoating ought to be viewed as a collective rather than individual process (though for more on the latter, see Newman & Caldwell, ch. 23 this volume). Subsequent work has accepted the fundamental role of frustration in scapegoating, but with a focus on the roles of shared (collective) frustrations (e.g., economic collapse, social disorder) that produce social movements with scapegoating ideologies that lead to organized persecution. Frustration’s role thus becomes indirect, with ideology being the proximal cause of aggression. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1573

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Scapegoating requires large shared frustrations plus a blaming ideology. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 794