Most parents will never overtly mention any one of their kids as the favorite, but actions speak much louder than words, so the disposition toward each child is loud and clear in everyday interactions ...

Family dynamics often create roles that children never consciously choose but still end up carrying. Two of the most common roles are the scapegoat sibling and the protected sibling. The scapegoat ...

In interviews for my forthcoming book on verbal abuse, the subject of scapegoating comes up with great regularity; among the forms of verbal abuse used by parents, scapegoating appears to have go-to ...

Family scapegoating can cause long-term emotional harm, such as trauma and self-harm. Scapegoats are often chosen based on arbitrary factors like birth order or appearance, and this is never the child ...