Constructing a positive circuit of debt among survivors: an action research study of disaster volunteerism in Japan

Following a disaster, survivors sometimes reject volunteer support because it would make them feel indebted. In this study, we collaborated with survivors of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake to investigate ways to improve volunteer facilitation in the formal and informal sectors. This led to two action research studies that examined how survivor indebtedness affects volunteer facilitation. First, we worked with staff at the Mashiki Disaster Volunteer Center (in the formal sector) to implement a strategy that would prevent feelings of indebtedness. Second, we worked with survivors (in the informal sector) to implement a pay-it-forward strategy that could accept survivors’ indebtedness. The results indicated that systems of volunteer coordination can be constructed that would create a negative circuit of debt (denial) or a positive one (acceptance). This study demonstrated that a positive circuit of debt achieved greater acceptance among survivors and, therefore, improved volunteer facilitation, because survivors could see a way to repay their debt.