folk devil

plural folk devils

1. idiomatichuman sciencesA person or type of person blamed by the public for various ills, as during a moral panic.

   "Every time things become problematic we start careering towards social causes and pick on a folk devil to attribute all evil."

   1996 December 18, Robert Verkaik, “‘Crash’ tackling”, in The Independent (UK), retrieved 08 Jun 2014

   2 more examples

   It may be true, as Fred Robinson, a senior researcher at Newcastle University said, "Many people view Mrs. Thatcher as a kind of folk devil.

   1987 July 9, Steve Lohr, “Newcastle Journal: Half of England where jobs are as rare as Tories”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Feb 2009

   There is always a tendency, in the mainstream as much as the fringes, to blame real or imagined social problems on a folk devil.

   2013 October 20, Jesse Walker, “Conspiracies: Five things they don’t want you to know”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 08 Jun 2014

   Synonyms: scapegoat