Title: Sou Sou Banking in Trinidad: Example of an Informal Mutual Aid Society
1Sou Sou Banking in TrinidadExample of an
Informal Mutual Aid Society
Ralph Holcomb, MSW, Ph.D. Fulbright Lecturer, Soc
ial Work Programme
- Credit, Savings, and Mutual Assistance
Department of County Human Services
International Group Seminar, April 27, 2006
2Overview of the Hour
- Trinidad Economic and social context
- What is sou sou banking?
- Assessing sou sou
- Economic benefits
- Social benefits
- Survey results
- Improving sou sous
- Questions and answers
31. Overview of Trinidad and Tobago
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8Demographic Overview
- Size Slightly Smaller than Delaware
- Population 1 million
- Growth rate -.74/1000
- Migration rate -10/1000
- Infant mortality rate 24/1000
- Unemployment 8
- Per capita income US 8900
- Poverty 21
- Inflation 6.8
9Economic Overview
- Economic characteristics of Small Island
Developing States (S.I.D.S.)
- Ideally suited for small populations and
pre-capitalist subsistence economy
- Common history of imperialist economic agenda
sets island up for
- Rapacious exploitation
- Enormous economic disparity
- Small middle class
- Racist ideologies
10Economic Overview, Cont.
- Few exploitable resources
- Lack of natural resources
- Lack of diversity in economy means greater
exposure to vicissitudes of the world
marketplace
- Brain drain
- Development strategies
- Tourism
- Micro-enterprises and micro-loans
11Overview, cont.
- Social Characteristics of SIDS
- Emanating from imperialist culture
- Racism
- Traditional gender and sexual orientation
attitudes
- Central social welfare system (British model)
- Gender and unemployment
- Environmental pressures
- Strengths
- Natural helping systems
- Fantastic home-grown arts
- Great human diversity
12Quick History
- Pre-European contact
- Indigenous trading
- Arawaks and Caribes
- Imperial hegemony
- Exploitation of indigenous peoples for mining
- African slavery for plantations
- East Indian indentured servants for plantations
- Modern US hegemony
13Liberation and Modern History
- Self-governance, economic dependence
- Dr. Eric Williams
- Yankee Go Home
- Repudiation of Monroe Doctrine
- British social legacy
- Strong centralized state safety net
- Strong class and racial overlay
142. Sou Sou Banking
15Mutual Aid Society
- Core function of social welfare is mutual
assistance.
- Characteristics
- Voluntary, common interests, similar condition,
symptom, experience, heritage
- Function
- Economic assistance, cultural preservation,
social interchange, mutual protection
16Overview
- Rotating Credit Association
- Practically universal phenomenon
- Why join?
- Inhibited from seeking credit in more formal
institutions
- Structural (lack of opportunity)
- Personal (lack of desire)
- Desire for a more structured way to save
- Social desire to participate in a mutual aid
endeavor
17How it Works
- Example
- Two group roles
- Banker
- Member of group
- Decide on rules
- How much, when, where to pay
- When to take the hand
- Bankers remuneration (the box)
18Thinking about Sou Sous
- Early Hand No-interest Credit
- Can help build individual wealth
- Helps individuals through hard times
- Late Hand Enforced Savings
- Overcomes barriers to saving on ones own
- No interest on savings
19Descriptive Results
- 120 respondents ( 10 response rate)
- 81 Female (53 female in population)
- 84 Staff ( 75 staff in population)
- Race/ethnicity
- 41 Afro-Trinidadian
- 27 Mixed
- 21 Indo-Trinidadian
20Descriptive Results, continued
- Of those who had ever joined a sou sou bank
- One-third were members of a sou sou at time of
survey
- Respondents averaged two sou sous ever joined
- Modal amount contributed 200
- 92 contribute monthly, the rest contribute
weekly
- 13 had been burned in a sou sou
- 71 will join another sou sou
21chart
22chart
23Crosstab
?2 p
24Crosstab
?2 p
25Crosstab
Non-significant ?2
26Chart
273. Analysis of Sou Sou Banking
28Why Utilize?
- 88 Savings
- forced to save
- Examples of items saved for
- Carnival costume, emergency cash, car insurance,
Christmas savings, childrens school expenses,
home appliances.
- 8 interest-free loan (credit)
29Criteria for Joining a Sou Sou
- Trust
- Some will only join if the sou sou is family
- Others will only join if they run the sou sou
themselves or it is run by a trusted banker
- Need
- Desire to be part of a social group
- Desire to help a friend
- Avoidance of loan or bank hassle
30Helpful Comments
- Trust
- Look for strength of character and commitment
among members
- Small family or work units perform well
- Look for a firm and strict banker
- Consider written payment contracts or
commitments. Also, all should know everyones
name and address
- Rules and Exceptions
- Flexibility is important, but only in extreme
circumstances
- Work out ahead of time if member non-payment is
the bankers or the hand recipients
responsibility
- Confidential hand payment date
31Final Thoughts
- Excellent means for meeting personal goals, if
members are trustworthy
- Good for group cohesion mutual aid
- Helps Individual members strengthen social ties
- Surprising finding suggestion that youth may be
participating as much as elders
323. Notes on Survey Methodology
33Notes on the Web Survey Method
- Free
- Easy
- Used FrontPage
- UWI Webmaster loaded
34Dillman Discussion
- Error Reduction
- Coverage, Sampling, Measurement, Non-response
- Coverage
- Quite Limited
- Very low among populations of interest to social
work
- Implications for sampling
35Dillman discussion, cont.
- Non-response
- Technological frustrations
- The intersection between survey psychology and
computer technology
- Technological SNAFUs
- Consent form
- Scroll bar, drop-down menus, clicking inside text
boxes
- Others?
- Work-arounds
- Show first question on screen
36Dillman discussion, cont.
- Measurement Error
- Unequal delivery of item stimuli
- Different platforms, web browsers, screen
configurations
37Questions?