Physical violence and scapegoating within the family : an exploration of biblical texts and contemporary psychology

Poljak Lukek, Saša (author), Pate, Tanja (author), Gostečnik, Christian (author)

To understand physical violence in the family, it is important to define the role of the victim. The term “scapegoat” is a universal anthropological concept, often used in sociological theories, where a certain group of people and/or minorities are often victimized or blamed (e.g., social ills). We may note that the phenomenon of scapegoating is most clearly expressed in the Bible. Therefore, we will use relevant biblical texts that refer to parental use of corporal punishment in which a child is scapegoated and/or victimized by parental violence. In this sense, the Bible is the most profound explanation and manifestation of the cultural, social, and especially religious development of humanity. At the same time, the concept of scapegoating is also demonstrated in psychology and therapy, where it also serves as a basis for understanding, for example, physical violence in the family, and where it is also crucial to define the role of the victim. In this article, therefore, we will explain the biblical background of this concept and highlight two basic dynamics of violence against children in the family: when the child is the “scapegoat” for unresolved tensions in the family and when the child becomes the “sacrifice” or victim of the dysregulated emotional response of his or her parents.

• Language: English
• Keywords: physical punishment, scapegoat, sacrifice, redemption, family
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 2638–2655
• Numbering: Vol. 62, iss. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-148151
• UDC: 27-23:159.9:316.362.1
• ISSN on article: 0022-4197
• DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01818-3
• COBISS.SI-ID: 151911171
• Publication date in RUL: 28.07.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of religion and health
• Shortened title: J. relig. health
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 0022-4197
• COBISS.SI-ID: 16014856

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J5-9349
• Name: Proces razreševanja fizičnega in spolnega nasilja ter relacijska družinska terapija