Escape goat

deaconB said

 

  Normally, I think of scapegoats as taking undeserved (in the view of the speaker) blame for something the scapegoat actually did - but in the case of the SUV shrink, she was arguing that she was getting the blame for a murder everyone agreed had been performed by the *sister* of the client in whom she implanted false memories.  I don't  think scapegoat was the proper term either.  "Fall guy" might fit - but the writers obviously wanted viewers to consider the shrink culpable.

 

You may have made a typo above but it makes no sense.  A scapegoat taking undeserved blame for something the scapegoat actually did.  If the scapegoat actually did it, any blame would be deserved.

In fact, the scapegoat takes undeserved blame for something that someone else actually did.  At Thesaurus.com  fall guy is number one on the list of synonyms for scapegoat.  They mean the same thing so maybe the writers thought scapegoat would sound better from a psychologist.  I think the dialogue from the show is probably correct except for the escape goat flaw, and who knows if that was the writer's fault or the actress's slip of the tongue.

Also, for the record, the show's name is SVU not SUV.  I know this is a small thing, but since it was referenced a ways after the beginning of your post, I had to read that paragraph twice before I understood what you were talking about.

You may have made a typo above but it makes no sense.  A scapegoat taking undeserved blame for something the scapegoat actually did.  If the scapegoat actually did it, any blame would be deserved.

I don't think that's true.  Safety experts suggest taking your shoes off on a long drive, as a way to combat drowsiness,  but despite that, Indiana law requires one wear shoes to drive.

Am out of state driver, unaware of the law; slip, off his shoes.  Thirty minutes later, a line fails on the truck he is following, and the air brakes on the semi trail freeze full on. The driver brakes as hard as he can but he slams into the truck with his passenger dying.  The state charges him with manslaughter,on the theory that he could have braked harder wearing shoes.

In fact, with power brakes, you can easily lock your brakes driving barefoot.  The truck had multiple issues with their brakes,  The brake lights never came on, and so the standard guideline of staying one car length back for every 10 MPH didn't work.  It was only because he was alert that he was able to stop as quickly as he did, sparing the lives of the kids in the back seat.  He was scapegoated for going barefoot,which he DID do, but the real culpability may rest with the truck mechanic who didn't maintain the truck in a safe operating condition,, or perhaps with a factory that shipped substandard brake parts, or perhaps it was just something that happened despite everyone acting on a responsible manner. That's why they call them accidents, y'know.

We obviously define scapegoat differently, and I'm not trying to browbeat you into submission, only to explain why how a person may be scapegoated for something they did do, when in fact their actions were not particularly blameworthy.  I suspect many married men can remember catching hell for doing something not especially blameworthy.

As you suspected, the SVU/SUV thing wasn't a typo., it was a first rate brain fart.  Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

What an interesting and intricate story about not wearing shoes.  And I am not trying to browbeat you into submission, either.  It is obvious that we define scapegoat differently, but you can check with any dictionary and it will talk about a scapegoat being innocent but blamed for crimes of others.  It is like the Bible story you cited, the totally innocent goat (except that he wasn't wearing any shoes) takes the blame for the sins of all the people of Israel and is punished by being exiled.  However, it was not the goat that escaped (his death was not really an escape) but the people who escaped the punishment for their sins.

Dick said
What an interesting and intricate story about not wearing shoes.  And I am not trying to browbeat you into submission, either.  It is obvious that we define scapegoat differently, but you can check with any dictionary and it will talk about a scapegoat being innocent but blamed for crimes of others.  It is like the Bible story you cited, the totally innocent goat (except that he wasn't wearing any shoes) takes the blame for the sins of all the people of Israel and is punished by being exiled.  However, it was not the goat that escaped (his death was not really an escape) but the people who escaped the punishment for their sins.

The goat in Leviticus was not killed, he was set loose:   And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. There was a second goat and a bullock who were slaughtered.  The scapegoat was a hog on ice, but he did escape the abatoir. 

As always, mileage may vary.