Scapegoating in Healthcare: A Primitive Response to Tragedy

This article employs an interpretive narrative approach, synthesising psychoanalytic and sociological theory to illuminate scapegoating in healthcare. It draws on the work of Freud, Bion, Menzies-Lyth, Douglas, and Girard, and integrates contemporary case material from international healthcare refined through peer discussion to illustrate and develop the theoretical analysis.Key Arguments:Scapegoating functions as a symbolic ritual of emotional discharge that obstructs learning and distorts justice. Organisational investigations and media narratives often collapse systemic complexity into linear blame, serving retributive rather than restorative purposes. Those targeted are frequently among the most vulnerable, socially, professionally, or structurally. The paper argues that only by recognising and resisting these unconscious group dynamics can healthcare systems foster genuine accountability, psychological safety, and real learning.