Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Governing Wayward Consumers: Self-Change And Recovery In Debtors Anonymous, Adam Morenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on self-change in support groups has focused on the ways individuals accomplish self-change in the "local cultures" of the support group settings. This ethnographic study of the 12-step self-help group Debtors Anonymous (DA) departs from that tradition by focusing on the ways that DA members achieve self-change by employing "recovery" strategies learned from the group in their everyday lives. DA members enter the group during financial crises, and often believe they cannot manage their own personal finances. By learning techniques of financial management taught by the group, DA members gradually gain "sobriety" and financial management skills. This analysis …