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Social Bond Development Through Continuous Indebtedness

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  • Carolina Rezende Pereira

    (Universidade Nove de Julho, and Schulich Business School, York University)

  • Suzane Strehlau

    (Universidade Nove de Julho)

Abstract

The state of being indebted arises when someone borrows money and later on pays it back. Continuous indebtedness is when a person incurs several loans in a row, such as from banks, credit companies and relatives, without paying off the previous ones. The aim of this paper is to investigate how continuous indebtedness changes the structure of social relations. The Theory of the Gift provides a framework to analyse social bonds among people. A qualitative approach was used to conduct in-depth interviews with 19 indebted households. Findings point to four structures of social relationship trajectories that occur as a result of the continuous indebtedness process. These are Positive Gift Relationship, when the debt reinforces a social bond; Negative Gift Relationship, when a social bond is broken; Selfish Gift Relationship when a person wants to get out of a social bond and Vampire Gift Relationship, when the debt arises due to the debtor’s desire to attract people of a certain reference group. Understanding how the continuous indebtedness process changes social relationships might help in the development of an action plan to avoid extreme financial situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Rezende Pereira & Suzane Strehlau, 2016. "Social Bond Development Through Continuous Indebtedness," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 241-259, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:39:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10603-016-9313-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-016-9313-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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