SOCIOTYPES OF THE OVERINDEBTED

Based on an analysis of in-depth interviews with a sample of overindeb ted households in Quebec in 1994, this research develops four sociotyp es: the Vulnerable whose debts are a function of poverty, the Unlucky who suffer from unfortunate events, the Upstart who tries to conform t o the image of social success, and the Compulsive whose consumption pa tterns are pathological. Comparable to findings of previous research, these findings offer a synthesis, revealing typical pathways toward ov erindebtedness, misunderstood thus far, and propose an elucidation of the complex relationships between consumption behaviour and social mea ings given to comsumption.