BLAME

Blame is the assignment of responsibility from one entity to another. Blaming is the action of assigning this blame to another, often from oneself. These activities seem basic to hominid behaviour.

Blaming is nearly universally observed in children. It seems to be an essential part of human development. When language skills develop, one of the first practical things that can be done with them is to apply them to blame others for one's own misdeeds, and get them sanctioned or punished while one simply continues to engage in more of same.

Lying is often involved in blaming, although of course it is possible to assign blame to someone using truth perhaps however selectively applied. For example, someone could be correctly blamed for hitting someone else, and charged with assault, but the motivation, say a prior assault by the individual claiming harm, might be concealed. Thus the scope of time and events and interactions considered is a pre-requisite to any assigning of blame.