Most parents will never overtly mention any one of their kids as the favorite, but actions speak much louder than words, so the disposition toward each child is loud and clear in everyday interactions ...

A family scapegoat takes on the blame for larger family issues. This person often becomes the black sheep of the family, who doesn't fit in with family norms. A therapist shared signs you might be the ...

Family dynamics often create roles that children never consciously choose but still end up carrying. Two of the most common roles are the scapegoat sibling and the protected sibling. The scapegoat ...

Many people come to therapy when they feel underappreciated by their family. They may say things like: “Someone is constantly making accusations against me for no fault of my own.” “My parents keep ...

Children who are raised in a dysfunctional family often do anything they can to survive day-to-day. Some kids align themselves with their parents as a self-protective measure, while others are put in ...

In interviews for my forthcoming book on verbal abuse, the subject of scapegoating comes up with great regularity; among the forms of verbal abuse used by parents, scapegoating appears to have go-to ...

On Nov. 7, 1938, a young Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan, shot a German diplomat, Ernst vom Rath, in France. As a result of this incident, the Nazi Party stoked the anger of the German public. It led ...

Family scapegoating can cause long-term emotional harm, such as trauma and self-harm. Scapegoats are often chosen based on arbitrary factors like birth order or appearance, and this is never the child ...