The sex offender as scapegoat: vigilante violence and a faith community response

Scapegoating violence is “that enigmatic quality that pervades the judicial

system when that system replaces sacrifice. This obscurity coincides with

the transcendental effectiveness of a violence that is holy, legal, and

legitimate successfully opposed to a violence that is unjust, illegal,

and illegitimate (Girard, 1977, p.23).” Girard’s theory of the scapegoat

encompasses “legitimate” kinds of scapegoating through our judicial system2

and illegitimate forms such as vigilantism. Bobby Oatway and many others

have been victims of both.

Recently , one of us received this plaintive letter from a pedophile

who has served several years in prison:

“While meditating in the sun today, it suddenly occurred to me that

I should contact you with the following questions.

“Is there anyone in ____ who will dare to help me:

• to apologize?
• to have the truth told?
• to challenge the mythology
• and bring some healing

“Is there a community leader, politician, writer, ‘prophet’ who will

help with that?

“Or, is there some divine value in:

• not apologizing;
• letting the mythology exist;
• not permitting truth to be told?

“I’d appreciate your comments on these questions.

“Take care………..”

Bobby Oatway, this individual, and every sex offender, knows the experience

of being scapegoated by wider society. Criminologist John Braithwaite refers

to this experience as “stigmatizing shaming” (1989), based upon a “degradation

ceremony” (also a Braithwaite term, Braithwaite and Mugford, 1994) which

both the formal justice system and wider society too readily perform. The

result is an expulsion, a scapegoating that is profoundly victimizing.

Read the whole paper, which is dated, but gives a good introduction to the development of Circles of Support and Accountability.