Blame (fault)

When we determine that one person or party has a preponderance of the responsibility for an unwanted or harmful outcome, we are ascribing blame.

Blame is a product of a cognitive distortion.  It is a map which minimizes the impact of some choices on the outcome and overstates others in an effort to find one location for most of the responsibility and thus avoids accountability.  It is an error both because in overstates responsibility and because it is a strategy which doesn't solve the problem.

see also, Effect from Cause, Statement of Accountability, Radical Accountability.