Accounting for Personal Overindebtedness
Debtors' Accounts in Applications for Debt Relief at the Swedish Enforcement Authority
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2642789 |
|---|---|
| Authors | B Larsson (0000-0001-8454-2891, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author), Bengt Jacobsson (University of Gothenburg) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 114-124 |
| Publication date | 2012-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Research Online (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1360-7804 • E-ISSN: 1360-7804 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5153/sro.2753 |
| OpenAlex | W2078208902 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 13 |
This paper aims to describe and understand the accounts given in applications for debt relief/adjustment in relation to the 'question situation' that overindebted person stand before in their encounters with Swedish authorities. The analysis is based on the sociology of accounts and is made against the background of previous research on overindebtedness in the Nordic countries. The paper shows that the accounts given by debtors include examples of 'refusals' and 'denials', but mainly comprise narratives and accounts centred around giving 'justifications' and 'excuses' focusing on external circumstances (illness, unemployment, divorce, bankruptcy), helplessness, or a lack of knowledge or intent (others causing the debt, or problems of addiction). The applications also contain some 'concessions', 'pledges' and 'appeals' by which the debtors try to show that they are improving in taking economic responsibility and deserve debt relief. The analysis thereby shows which accounts are considered legitimate, but also that the framing cues defining and delimiting the question situation are too weak to produce uniform forms of accounting. Many applicants for debt relief respond to a wide definition of the question situation - one that relates to self-image and social identity
Bankruptcy · Debt · Economic growth · Economics · Enforcement · Law and economics · Narrative · Political science · Poor relief · Poverty · Sociology · Accounting and Organizational Management · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Public Policy and Administration Research · Accounting · Finance
Encounters
Dealing with Insolvency and Indebted Individuals in Respect to Law and Morality
What Have We Learned from Five Decades of Neutralization Research
Account Strategies for the Violation of Social Norms
Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive
Techniques of Neutralization
People's Accounts Count
The Sociology of Storytelling
Community, consumerism and credit
Family money' and 'business money
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |