The Leader and the Scapegoat: A Dependency Group Study

Whether by constitution and temperament, by personal inclination or by group selection, the scapegoat is ultimately a non-conformist. If this non-conformist potential is not too insistently and self-destructively expressed, it may be employed by the group to lever itself from a simple dual opposition between leader and led to a more differentiated and evenly-distributed exchange between the group members themselves. The change is one from compliance and suggestibility to self-initiative and social responsibility. The scapegoat may be used to facilitate this transition.