From the Clinician and Researcher Who Coined the Term Family Scapegoating Abuse and the Founder of Healing the Scapegoat Wound: FSA Education E-Publication and Support Community on Substack

Rebecca C. Mandeville, MACP, LMFT, CCTP

ATTENTION: I no longer publish articles from this WordPress site. To receive my free public posts on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), subscribe to my Substack, Healing the Scapegoat Wound. You can can subscribe for free, or join are private Paid Community.

Access our first published peer-reviewed quantitative study on Family Scapegoating Abuse here: https://oapub.org/hlt/index.php/EJPHS/article/view/202/202

New to my website and to my work? Scroll down to take the free online (research-supported) Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Self-Test™ and to learn more about my introductory book on FSA, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed, as well as how to access my free online FSA Recovery Quick-Start Guide and my FSA Survivor Online Community on Substack.

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ABOUT MY FSA RESEARCH

Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) can happen in any type of dysfunctional family system, not just a narcissistic one. Learn about the impact my research on FSA is having around the world. In addition to the years of qualitative research on FSA I have done, I recently co-authored the first peer-reviewed quantitative research study on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), conducted by Dr Kartheek Balapala (MD / Research Fellow). Mandy Sizalobuhle Mpofu is the third co-author on this study. This research study has now been published in the European Journal of Public Health Studies (2025) and serves to further legitimize the clinical and human reality of this form of insidious systemic psycho-emotional abuse. Our second (now completed) co-authored quantitative study, which addresses FSA and Postpartum depression (PPD), will be published soon.

Learn more

“Rebecca C. Mandeville’s pioneering research on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) and its effects marks the establishment of a new – and critically important – area of study within the field of Family Systems. At last, survivors of this devastating phenomenon have a name and terms to describe what happened to them in their family and a means of moving forward in their healing and recovery process.” – Joshua Mitchell, PhD

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: My FSA Recovery Consultation waiting list is now CLOSED – You may check back here in January 2026 to see if my waiting list is open. Are you a financial supporter of my Healing the Scapegoat Wound Substack? Please let me know this when you email me as you will be prioritized on my waiting list. Learn more about my online consultation service here: https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com/scapegoat-recovery-consultations/

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What Readers Are Saying About Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed

Rebecca writes with a rare blend of clarity and compassion that offers deep validation to those who have been shamed, blamed, and silenced simply for existing. Her words provide the kind of nurture and protection many survivors never received—just for being alive. She courageously challenges the narrow and damaging belief that abuse must be physical or sexual, or that it could never come from within one’s own family. In a world that dismisses and shames survivors when the wounds aren’t visible (even though neuroscience shows that emotional and psychological trauma can leave marks visible on brain scans), Rebecca offers both truth and hope. She gives voice to those who have long been gaslit as “too sensitive” by those that are perhaps too insensitive to acknowledge their harmful behaviors. I’m deeply grateful for her work and look forward to reading more from her as she continues to stand boldly for the oppressed and speak against injustice.

– Megan H. (Amazon Review for Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role)

ATTENTION – PERMISSIONS NEEDED: Wanting to cite my work or use the terms ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) or ‘Family Scapegoat Abuse’ in your original work? Scroll down to the bottom of this page to get information on quotation limits and requesting Permissions.

Scroll down to access my FSA Recovery Quick-Start Guide – My gift to you for visiting my website!

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Here, you are believed…

In my work in the area of psycho-emotional (‘invisible’) abuse and related trauma, I support child victims and adult children survivors. I believe what victims and survivors tell me and give them the space to share their stories, free of judgment. Escaping the Gordian knot of family dysfunction and scapegoating abuse can seem impossible, particularly when abuse dynamics are insidious, invisible, and subtle. But it is not impossible to recover from the ravages of FSA. How do I know? Because I don’t just research on and teach others about this form of abuse: I’m an FSA adult survivor, too. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP

Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)™ is a term that specifically describes a unique systemic phenomenon identified by the research of Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP. Email Rebecca to submit a permissions request for quotes over 100 words.

Scroll Down to Learn About My Substack FSA Survivor Community

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Do You Relate to Any of the Following Experiences?

Despite the devastating consequences to adult survivors, scapegoating in families remains an under-researched, poorly understood dysfunctional family process. If you’ve experienced any of the below, you may be the ‘identified patient’ or ‘scapegoat’ in your dysfunctional or narcissistic family system:

• Your family has a ‘story’ about you (what I call the ‘scapegoat narrative’) and via this ‘story’ (which is typically promoted and repeated within your nuclear and extended family) your character is distorted; your ‘faults’ are magnified and emphasized; and your poor treatment by those who scapegoat you, malign you, and psycho-emotionally abuse you within your family-of-origin is (in their minds) justified.
• You have been rejected, shamed, blamed, or bullied by family members. Any feelings you have about this are dismissed, diminished, or denied.
• You’ve been the victim of a family ‘smear’ campaign designed to discredit you, defame you, or destroy your reputation.
• You’ve been called a “liar”; a “faker”; or “crazy” by one or more members of your family.
• You’ve been called “too sensitive”; “dramatic”; or “difficult” by one or more members of your family.
• Your accomplishments and successes are ignored and go unacknowledged by your family.
• You feel frustrated, angry, or confused due to feeling rejected, shamed, blamed, or bullied by your family-of-origin.
• You have considered cutting ties with one or more members of your family to protect your mental and emotional health.
• Your family members imply you “fake” or “make up” injuries and illnesses.
• You suffer from anxiety, depression, impostor syndrome, and/or betrayal trauma and complex trauma (C-PTSD) symptoms.
• You experience ‘triggers’ and are emotionally activated around your family-of-origin, which typically is a result of long-standing complex trauma (C-PTSD) symptoms and what I have named Family Scapegoat Trauma (or FST) symptoms.

Child victims and adult survivors of family scapegoating abuse (FSA) continue to be deprived of public recognition and validation. The reality of this form of systemic abuse must be acknowledged within our Court systems, Educational systems, and Mental Health systems worldwide so FSA survivors can get the support they need, are entitled to, and deserve. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP

Healing the Scapegoat Wound: FSA Education Support Community

About My Introductory Book on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), Rejected Shamed and Blamed (and where to purchase it)

“I want to share my deep gratitude for Rebecca Mandeville and her book Rejected, Shame, Blamed. As someone who has been coaching individuals for many years, I’ve long understood the challenges people face when navigating toxic family dynamics. Yet reading this book brought a whole new depth of understanding to the scapegoating dynamic and the pervasive generational patterns of dysfunction that keep it alive. It not only affirmed my own healing journey, but also enriched the way I support clients in theirs. The insights I’ve gained through Rebecca’s work continue to bring greater peace, self-acceptance, and clarity — both personally and professionally. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking healing and freedom from toxic family patterns.” With gratitude, Lynne Harley Life Coach, Speaker, and Bestselling Author of What If You Could? and the soon-to-be-released I Can Do It Afraid!

Purchase This Book on Amazon (U.S.) (Amazon has the Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover version) – OR you can purchase it INTERNATIONALLY at These Online Book Retailers (including Amazon).

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It’s been rewarding to see the interest in my work on family scapegoating abuse (FSA) growing steadily since I published Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed nearly three years ago. There can understandably be resistance on some people’s part in regard to accepting the fact that some processes related to FSA may at times be unconscious; however, it has been my experience that this is a critical piece of information for adult survivors of FSA who grew up in a dysfunctional, versus narcissistic, family system, as it validates the reality of their having been harmed by this form of insidious ‘invisible’ abuse.

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In Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed, you’ll learn about:

1. Why family scapegoating behaviors qualify as psycho-emotional abuse in highly dysfunctional and narcissistic families.
2. Aspects of my research findings on what I eventually named ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) and more recently, ‘Family Scapegoat Trauma’ (FST) to educate both adult survivors and interested Mental Health professionals on this poorly understood dysfunctional family phenomenon.
3. How a systemic defense mechanism known as the  Family Projective Identification Process (which is similar to a shared family ‘psychosis’) can fuel family scapegoating abuse in DYSFUNCTIONAL family systems. In NARCISSISTIC family systems, scapegoating can be fueled by a narcissistic family power-holder who controls and creates the ‘scapegoat narrative’ used to demean and diminish you within your nuclear and extended family – and beyond. The pathological Family Projective Identification Process may or may not be at play in a narcissistic family system.
4. Why family scapegoating abuse adult survivors should be clinically assessed for complex trauma (C-PTSD) symptoms and engage in trauma-informed treatment pathways under the guidance of a licensed, trauma-certified Mental Health professional with Family Systems training.
5. The inter-play between family scapegoating abuse; the family projective identification process; intergenerational trauma; toxic shame; betrayal trauma; and complex trauma (C-PTSD).

Scroll down to learn more about Family Scapegoating Abuse

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My FSA Survivor Support Community on Substack

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Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)™ is a term that specifically describes a unique systemic phenomenon identified by the research of Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP. Email Rebecca to submit a permissions request for quotes over 100 words.

Family Scapegoating Abuse is a SYSTEMIC Issue

Family Scapegoating Abuse, or ‘FSA’ – a form of psycho-emotional (‘invisible’) abuse in which a child or adult child is unjustly blamed, marginalized, and ‘otherized’ by their family-of-origin – can be profoundly damaging.

What you’ll often find is that those who discuss family scapegoating (including Mental Health professionals and social media influencers) continually assert that narcissism – or ‘a narcissist’ – is always THE driving force behind most cases of family scapegoating behaviors and any attendant estrangement. Rarely is any research included to support such a sweeping statement. Not surprising, because this is simply not the case. Such an assertion is a myth, because over a half a century of research within the field of Family Systems on the ‘Identified Patient’ (IP) confirms that the scapegoating of a given family member is typically systemic and can occur in ANY type of dysfunctional family system – not just a narcissistic one. Yet, despite this reality, this myth is widely promoted and this ‘distorted narrative’ is fed to FSA survivors all the time.

So what’s the truth? Family scapegoating behaviors are in fact typically fueled by unconscious pathological projection processes rooted in systemic anxiety stemming from unrecognized, unprocessed intergenerational trauma. The scapegoating of a family member may at times be driven consciously and intentionally by a narcissistic parent, dominant sibling, etc, but the entire system will still be effected and involved, no matter how it seems on the outside. Research conducted over the past 60 years within the field of Family Systems supports this clinical and human reality. And yet, the above myth that scapegoating is ‘always’ and ‘only’ fueled by a narcissistic family member persists. Why? Because ‘narcissism’ is a ‘hot topic’ these days and people can make a lot of money capitalizing on the terms ‘narcissist’ and ‘narcissism’, even if they are misleading survivors by providing false or incomplete information in the guise of helpful education. Whether they mean to be doing this or not is beside the point – FSA survivors are being harmed either way.

Given the above, it is deeply concerning to me that survivors seeking information about family scapegoating and its effects may be negatively impacted by distorted and false narratives regarding how and why scapegoating occurs in families, making recovering and healing from FSA that much more challenging and difficult.

So next time you hear a (supposed) ‘expert’ say that scapegoating is ALWAYS conscious and intentional and ALWAYS fueled by a narcissist, and who won’t acknowledge that scapegoating within families is also frequently a systemic issue driven by unconscious pathological projection processes and can occur in ANY type of dysfunctional family system (not just a narcissistic one), I suggest you ask them to provide the research that backs up their statements and see what happens.

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This website provides free public education on the phenomenon known as Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA). It is not attached to the licensed Psychotherapy services provided by this website’s owner, Rebecca C. Mandeville.

Important Disclaimer: The information shared on this website and on my Substack is designed for educational purposes and should not be considered a replacement for professional mental health care. While I am a therapist, this platform does not facilitate a therapeutic relationship and I am not acting as a therapist here or on any of my online platforms. Please understand that online content cannot address individual needs. For crisis support in the U.S., please reach out to: Crisis Text Line (741741), Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988), or Emergency Services (911).

NEED HELP NOW? Being scapegoated can be extremely traumatizing. If you feel in danger of harming yourself, this is a list of international hotlines where you can speak to someone: ​https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ ​ You can also search for crisis support in your country here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/11181469?hl=enFamily Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education is supported by readers – not ads. To receive new posts and exclusive benefits to support you in your FSA recovery, consider subscribing today.

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ATTENTION: Permissions Needed – All Rights Reserved

When referencing Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) or Family Scapegoat Abuse in your original work and/or using quotes of 100 words or less, please use the following attribution (be sure to make my website a live link): “Family Scapegoating Abuse (or Family Scapegoat Abuse) are terms coined by Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP. They are based on over 15 years of qualitative and quantitative research studies on the abusive aspects of scapegoating dynamics impacting child victims and adult survivors. To learn more about FSA and its effects and access resources supporting FSA recovery, visit her website at https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com.” (End quote) For quotes over 100 words, contact me for Permissions at fsaexpert@proton.me. A reminder that altering my work (such as translating it, etc) is considered derivative and constitutes copyright infringement unless I grant permission for such alterations. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP