Social goals and the Karpman Drama Triangle

I've written about the crippling limitations imposed on Social Policy Bonds by making them non-tradeable here and here. And I'm sometimes asked why Social Policy Bonds haven't yet been issued, either by government or the private sector, whereas their non-tradable variant (most often known as Social Impact Bonds), are now issued in about 25 countries.

My thinking goes like this. Governments and non-governmental organisations including charities, do not want to relinquish their power to decide who shall supply the goal-achieving services (and so benefit from redeeming the bonds). Nor do they wish to lose complete oversight over how the targeted goals shall be achieved. Ultimately, in my view, it's about power and control, which to many of us are not key drivers, so we may find it difficult to understand their potency. This also, and more disappointingly, applies to philanthropists as well as politicians: it is gratifying to be seen to be granting funds directly to beneficiaries or to people who help those beneficiaries. It is not so appealing merely to contribute to a fund whose eventual beneficiaries cannot be identified. As well, Social Policy Bonds are best deployed when they aim to achieve long-term goals and on a large scale, where the beneficiaries are even less easy to identify and, indeed, might not yet be born.

Another explanation is that, at some level, governments, foundations and philanthropists might be playing the role of Rescuer in what is known as the "Karpman Drama Triangle", involving a Victim, Persecutor and Rescuer, as modelled in transactional analysis. Perhaps this paragraph, from here is pertinent in some cases:

The Rescuer: The rescuer's line is "Let me help you." A classic enabler, the Rescuer feels guilty if they don't go to the rescue. Yet their rescuing has negative effects: It keeps the Victim dependent and doesn't allow the Victim permission to fail and experience the consequences of their choices. The rewards derived from this rescue role are that the focus is taken off of the rescuer. When they focus their energy on someone else, it enables them to ignore their own anxiety and issues. This rescue role is also pivotal because their actual primary interest is really an avoidance of their own problems disguised as concern for the victim’s needs.

I had hoped that SIBs would be stepping stone on the way to Social Policy Bonds. That is still possible, and new technologies are generating are encouraging more interest in my original concept. However, it is also possible that the lack of evidence (pdf) justifying the SIBs that have been issued could discredit the whole bond concept. We shall see.