Scapegoating underlings lets officials escape consequences through staged public apologies

Evidence

However, the scenario frames the issue as a lapse in oversight of wrongdoers rather than the culpability of those in charge. This sleight of hand quickly shifts responsibility to rogue underlings who are charged with violating the organization’s policies and values. Expressing hurt feelings over a wrongdoer’s betrayal can arouse empathy in others for the officials’ plight. If skillfully orchestrated, apologetic admission of ultimate responsibility can bring forgiveness and even sympathy for officials portrayed as victims of subordinate wrongdoers. The public apology typically closes with a forward-looking statement aimed at curbing further probing. It is time to put the problem behind us, the officials announce, and quickly move on to right the wrongs and restore public trust. Admissions of ultimate responsibility are usually devoid of consequences. The officials are not chastised, demoted, dismissed, docked pay, or penalized in other ways. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 439

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to moral disengagement mechanisms bandura describes, and to political communication about institutional scandal — parallels Milgram’s displacement of responsibility chapter material. — connects to: Officials can blur their lawbreaking by focusing public attention on popular ends — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 958
• CANDY: A cynical but recognizable pattern: the ritual public apology that assigns blame downward and changes nothing.