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Scapegoat Abuse Support and Resources: For Adult Survivors of FSA
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Systemic Scapegoat Abuse support, community, and resources for adults in the family scapegoat role – From Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) expert Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP, author of the best selling scapegoat book, ‘Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role’.
Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education™
Understand what Happened to you In your Family – And What you’ve been trying to recover from…
About Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA): For Survivors and Clinicians
“You’re not a broken person. You’re a person in a broken system.” – Rebecca C. Mandeville
Welcome to my website! The information provided below is designed to help you learn more about the insidious systemic phenomenon I named Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) as a result of my clinical research. I don’t just research and write about being scapegoated by family – I’ve lived it. I therefore know first-hand how traumatizing this form of systemic complex relational abuse can be. But healing from FSA and its damaging effects (including complex trauma) IS possible!
Need support? Learn more about my FSA Survivor Community on Substack
In the expanding landscape of trauma recovery and mental health awareness, terms like “narcissist” and “scapegoat” have entered the mainstream lexicon. While this increased visibility is vital, it has inadvertently birthed a pervasive myth: The belief that scapegoating in families is typically driven by “evil” narcissistic family members. This reductionist, simplified, emotion-driven narrative on family scapegoating dynamics may serve as effective ‘click bait’, but it does a profound disservice to survivors. By shifting the focus from family “villain(s)” to the family “system,” we effectively empower survivors to focus on recovering from the systemic dysfunction that harmed them, versus focusing on the mental status and behavioral patterns of scapegoating family members.
– Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
ATTENTION – Survivors, Clinicians, Academics: For comprehensive information on the insidious systemic phenomenon I named ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse‘ (FSA), please carefully review this page; read my bestselling introductory book on FSA (Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed); and check out my Healing the Scapegoat Wound E-Publication (with private Community features).
Scroll Down to Take the FSA Self-Test; View A Summary of My FSA Research; And Learn More About My FSA Survivor Online Community and Other FSA Recovery Offerings
ATTENTION – PERMISSIONS REQUIRED
The term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) as well as the unique nomenclature I created to describe FSA processes represents findings from my original Family Systems research (this now includes peer-reviewed quantitative research) and is copyrighted. See ‘Important Notice Regarding Use of My Intellectual Property’ at the bottom of this page to learn more.
Intellectual Property & Ownership of Primary Research
All materials on this website and all associated methodologies, quantitative research data, and proprietary clinical constructs, are the sole intellectual property of Rebecca C. Mandeville. As the founding researcher of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), I retains all rights to the terminology, frameworks, and pedagogical structures presented.
An FSA research summary can be found near the bottom of this page. I do not typically grant interviews or participate in online summits or podcasts outside of clinical or academic settings. If you have an interview request or presentation proposal, please first familiarize yourself with my work by reading my introductory book on Family Scapegoating Abuse, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed.
Rebecca C. Mandeville is a licensed clinician and world-renowned expert on the ‘invisible’ systemic phenomenon she named Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA). Her pioneering research on systemically-driven scapegoat abuse in families revealed that FSA (which is typically intergenerational in regard to its scope and impact) can lead to a range of issues, including Complex PTSD, Attachment Trauma, Betrayal Trauma, Impostor Syndrome, and Toxic Shame.
In addition to continuing to research on FSA (which now includes peer-reviewed, published quantitative research), Rebecca devotes much of her time to raising global awareness about FSA and its devastating impact on child victims and adult survivors via her articles, videos, and Livestream events.
Research summary included near the bottom of this page.
Help Raise Awareness About FSA
Scapegoating occurs when one family member is unjustly blamed, criticized, or targeted for negative treatment by other family members. The consequences of systemic scapegoating abuse can be severe and may lead to emotional, psychological, and relational difficulties for the targeted family member. You can help me in my mission to raise global awareness about the insidious reality of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) by sharing this website with others.
Begin Your Healing Today
My FSA Offerings
Private Community | 1:1 online Consultation | My Book on FSA
Our Community
Subscribe to my Substack to receive my public articles on FSA. Upgrade your subscription to join our private community.
Consultation Service
Feeling stuck in your FSA recovery? You may benefit from a Single-Session Consultation to discuss your family situation.
Intro’ to FSA
My bestselling self-help book, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed, will help you understand what happened to you in your family.
FSA Self-Test
It is a myth that scapegoating in families is always overt and obvious. My original research on Family Scapegoating abuse (FSA) revealed it is typically systemic, insidious and subtle. To make matters even more challenging, children in families that scapegoat are often conditioned to tolerate this form of ‘invisible’ (psycho-emotional) abuse, making FSA an extremely difficult form of systemic maltreatment for adult survivors to recognize and recover from.
How It Started…
“I never could have imagined that when I published my introductory book on Family Scapegoating Abuse that it would resonate with tens of thousands of people around the world. Over the years, I’ve received countless emails and messages thanking me for providing a means of discussing this form of insidious systemic abuse via the unique terms and nomenclature I created during the course of my original FSA research. I hope that you also feel validated and seen via this first book on FSA.”
Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
Haven’t yet read Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed? This Universal Book Link (UBL) will lead you to an online store where you can purchase it securely. Only Amazon carries the paperback and hard cover versions. Note: Tantor Media distributes the audio version through Amazon and other online shops: https://books2read.com/intro2fsa
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Healing the Scapegoat Wound on Substack
Subscribing to my Substack is free. You’ll receive an online FSA Education Guide in your ‘Welcome’ email when you subscribe, which provides more FSA recovery resources. My latest articles will be delivered to your inbox.
Upgrade your subscription to access our private, paywall-protected community spaces.
Dearest Rebecca, Your work has been a life-saver for me and has changed everything in positive ways after a lifetime of FSA, for which I never had a name until I found you with your wonderful research, website, videos, book and our precious community which provides healing support from and for survivors like me. Knowing I can come to this community when things seem bleak has added a layer of peace that has made it much more possible for me to function in my daily life. Hearing about your own personal struggles with FSA has also provided a new way of healing where there is no one-up, one-down dynamic as I’ve experienced in the past with well-intentioned therapists. Your humanity, as you create, offer and share these groundbreaking truths, and your transpersonal viewpoint has bolstered my faith in life, in goodness, and in my own capacity to overcome adversity. Well done dear sister. Thank you! – Healing the Scapegoat Wound Paid Community Member
The results of my research compel a fundamental shift in how practitioners—both clinicians and medical professionals—diagnose and treat survivors of complex systemic relational abuse, including Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) . Our quantitative, peer-reviewed data provides the essential scientific validation required to move FSA from a debated emotional dynamic to a medically relevant diagnosis. – Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP
Summary of Research- Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT
Summary of Qualitative and Quantitative Research on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)
The term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) was coined by psychotherapist and clinical researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville. Mandeville’s work is foundational to the field, and she has collaborated with other researchers to study this insidious systemic phenomenon. Her recent peer-reviewed quantitative studies serve to further legitimatize the devastating reality of FSA and recovery challenges survivors face. Mandeville’s work is seen as foundational to the field, providing a crucial linguistic and conceptual framework that is now used world-wide by adult survivors, clinicians, and researchers.
Key researchers and their contributions
Rebecca C. Mandeville
As the central figure in FSA research, Mandeville’s work includes:
- Creating and defining the term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA): This has provided a crucial framework for understanding the systemic psycho-emotional abuse that occurs when a dysfunctional family unfairly targets one member with blame and criticism.
- Qualitative research: Through her clinical practice and studies, she identified that FSA often leads to Complex Trauma (C-PTSD), Betrayal Trauma, Complicated Grief; Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorders; Impostor Syndrome; and Toxic Shame.
- Quantitative research: In 2024, she co-authored (with Doctoral Research Scholar Dr. Kartheek R. Balapala and his team) the first peer-reviewed quantitative study on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), followed by a second study in 2025 (scroll down for links to these studies, which were published in peer-reviewed health and medical journals in Europe and Asia).
- Authoring content: Mandeville wrote Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role, which details her findings and provides resources for survivors. She also publishes new articles about FSA regularly on her Healing the Scapegoat Wound Substack and is a licensed Healthcare Partner on YouTube via her Beyond Family Scapegoating Abuse channel.
- A Unique Nomenclature: Other terms coined by Mandeville as a result of her original FSA research that enhance survivor and clinician discussions include ‘family scapegoat trauma’; ‘scapegoat narrative’; ‘righteous rage’; and ‘scapegoat grief’.
Key findings from the research of Rebecca C. Mandeville
- Complex trauma and other effects of FSA: Mandeville’s research revealed that many FSA survivors suffer from complex trauma as a result of chronic systemic relational trauma; betrayal trauma; attachment trauma; anxiety; depression; and toxic shame. As such, FSA results in a variety of psycho-emotional symptoms and social impediments, including feeling that the world is an unsafe place, emotional dysregulation, a sense of not belonging anywhere, and difficulty forming healthy, secure relationships.
- Systemic dynamics: The research reveals that scapegoating is a systemic issue often fueled by intergenerational trauma, projection, and the splitting of family roles, where one child is designated as the “scapegoat”.
- Clinical consequences: Survivors often report a long history of seeking treatment for various diagnoses like depression, anxiety, or personality disorders without the root cause of the scapegoating being identified.
- Impact on relationships: FSA can lead to a distorted relationship with oneself and others, self-doubt, difficulty expressing emotions, and a tendency to engage in “fawning” or people-pleasing behaviors due to the betrayal trauma and toxic shame experienced within their family-of-origin.
Dr. Kartheek R. Balapala
Co-authored quantitative studies: As a research fellow and MD, Dr. Balapala co-authored the first peer-reviewed quantitative study on FSA with clinician and Family Systems researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville in 2024. This study was published in the European Journal of Public Health Studies. Mandy Sizalobuhle Mpofu, Research Scholar, also co-authored this study.
*Read our first FSA quantitative study at https://oapub.org/hlt/index.php/EJPHS/article/view/202/202
Dr. Kartheek R. Balapala also collaborated on a second quantitative study with Family Systems and Scapegoat Abuse expert Rebecca C. Mandeville; Research Scholar Dr Suriyakala Perumal Chandran; and researcher Chanda Chisanga, which focused on how Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) affects women with Postpartum depression (PPD).
*Read our second FSA quantitative study at https://oapub.org/hlt/index.php/EJPHS/article/view/232/232
In Summary: Mandeville’s research on Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) shows it’s a severe form of family dysfunction where one child absorbs the family’s negativity, leading to complex trauma (C-PTSD) in the victim, marked by anxiety, depression, low self-worth, and relationship issues, often fueled by generational trauma, and results in deep emotional wounds like toxic shame and identity confusion, requiring trauma-informed healing. The abuse involves a distorted “scapegoat narrative” and systemic blame, impacting mental health, self-perception, and future relationships, even extending into adulthood as siblings perpetuate the narrative.
Core Concepts, Unique Nomenclature, & Dynamics Associated With FSA
- Systemic Mechanism: Scapegoating is a structural defense mechanism for dysfunctional families (not just narcissistic ones) to manage overwhelming stress or trauma, often involving intergenerational patterns.
- Scapegoat Narrative: A false, defamatory story created by the family that labels the child as the problem, which becomes deeply ingrained, causing identity confusion and internalized shame.
- Righteous Rage (a form of Functional Anger): Anger that is a direct, proportional, and self-affirming response to a real and systemic injustice (like FSA). This anger serves as a vital signal and motivator for differentiation and boundary setting.
- Perpetuation: Even after a parent’s death, siblings, especially the “golden child,” may continue the narrative to maintain family balance.
Psychological & Emotional Impacts (C-PTSD)
- Complex Trauma: The chronic nature of FSA leads to C-PTSD, disrupting self, emotional regulation, and relational capacity.
- Mental Health: High rates of anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and suicidal ideation.
- Self-Perception: Profound low self-esteem, self-doubt, toxic shame, guilt, and feelings of worthlessness.
- Emotional Dysregulation: Difficulty trusting, expressing emotions, and feeling safe, leading to fawning or people-pleasing behaviors.
Transcend the Damaging Scapegoat Narrative
Start your FSA healing journey today
It is never too late to begin recovering from Family Scapegoating Abuse. Reclaim your story – reclaim your life!
Rebecca C. Mandeville
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. This is because the headwind provides the necessary airflow over the wings to generate lift. Recovering from Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is difficult, to be sure, but with time, patience, and consistent effort, trust that you will eventually soar…”
Find Me on Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondfamilyscapegoatingabuse
🛑 Important Notice Regarding use of My Intellectual Property
Thank you for visiting, sharing, and engaging with the resources on this site! Your support in raising awareness about Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is highly valued.
Please be aware that the specific term, concept, and content surrounding ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse’ (FSA) have been developed, researched, and copyrighted by Rebecca C. Mandeville, founder of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education.
Why Permission is Needed to Use My FSA Content
I ask that you respect my intellectual property rights for the following reasons:
- Protecting Integrity: My materials, including the term ‘Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA), are designed to provide specialized, reliable, and consistent information and resources. Unauthorized use or modification can dilute the term’s meaning and potentially misrepresent the underlying research-supported concepts.
- Copyright Protection: All original text, articles, structure, and the specific application and definition of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) are protected under copyright law.
How to Share and Use My FSA Work Appropriately
- Attribution is Required: If you reference or quote the concept, definition, or specific term Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) in a non-commercial work and your quote is 100 words or less, please provide clear and visible credit back to me and this website. *Example: “The concept of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) as defined here is based on the work of clinician and researcher Rebecca C. Mandeville at https://www.scapegoatrecovery.com.”
- Use for Personal Awareness: You are encouraged to use the concepts for personal understanding and discussion for non-commercial purposes, using the above attribution.
- Commercial/Public Use Requires Permission: You must obtain explicit, written permission from me before using the term Family Scapegoating Abuse / FSA or any content derived from this site for:
- Any commercial purpose (e.g., in a book, paid course, or for-profit resource).
- Public distribution or publication (e.g., in a non-accredited educational resource, blog post, or training material) that goes beyond simple reference and attribution.
EMAIL ME FOR PERMISSION: I’m passionate about helping people understand and recover from FSA. If you plan to create commercial or non-commercial content (articles, podcasts, books, videos, etc.) that references Family Scapegoating Abuse and/or FSA and/or my FSA research and related content and educational material, you must email me to request permission to use my copyrighted work (this includes translations of my content).
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in protecting my ability to continue developing and sharing these vital resources.
– Rebecca C. Mandeville, LMFT, CCTP