From obligations to negotiations: reciprocity and reflexivity in informal financial support

Abstract

This article examines the processes of informal support exchange in wider social network relationships with a particular focus on conditions that are of significance for financial support. The intention, with a point of departure in 24 qualitative interviews with single adults in Sweden, is to present an interactionist model to explain how such support is formed and how it can be analysed and understood. The article shows that such support is by no means purely dependent on financial considerations and resources. The types of relationship and the specific situations in which individuals are placed in positions that demand reflection upon, and communication about, their need for support, can be likened to a negotiation and are of equal importance. Furthermore, the provision of informal support is also influenced by moral and social norms relating to responsibility, care obligations, self-sufficiency and independence, which are, amongst other things, embedded in our social political system.

I denna artikel undersöks förutsättningar och villkor för utbyte av informellt ekonomiskt stöd i personliga sociala nätverk. Avsikten är att, med utgångspunkt från 24 kvalitativa intervjuer med ensamstående vuxna i Sverige, presentera en interaktionistisk modell som förklarar hur det informella stödutbytet ser ut och hur detta kan analyseras och förstås. Artikeln visar att ekonomiskt stöd långt ifrån bara är beroende av finansiella förhållanden och resurser, utan; hög grad också handlar om hur relationella och situationella villkor kommuniceras och förhandlas. Vidare visar resultaten att tillgång till informellt stöd också påverkas av välfärdspolitiska normer om ansvar, omsorgsförpliktelser, självständighet och oberoende.

Keywords:

• reciprocity
• negotiations
• reflexivity
• financial support
• social networks

Nyckelord:

• reciprocitet
• förhandling
• reflexivitet
• finansiellt stöd
• sociala nätverk

Acknowledgements

This article has been written within the framework of a larger research project entitled Between autonomy and dependence. Informal economic and social support, that has been undertaken in collaboration with Professor Peter Dellgran at Göteborg University. This paper substantially develops findings that have been previously published elsewhere. We are grateful to the editors and publishers of Socionomens Forskningssupplement for permission to quote from the paper ‘Reciprocitetens villkor. Om informellt ekonomiskt stödutbyte’. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) (Grant 2002-0374).

Notes

1. For a more detailed description of how the method has previously been used in connection with social networks, see Espvall (2001). For more information on Enquire Within, see www.enquirewithin.co.nz.