Family Socialization, Ideology, and Family Communication Patterns as Predictors of Attitudes about Guns and Gun Ownership

Abstract

This study examines the role of gun culture in the United States as a backdrop for the influence of family socialization, ideology, and family communication patterns on individual beliefs about guns and gun ownership. Through a review of gun culture history, the application of theory surrounding these perspectives and an analysis of survey data, the depth and complexity of these relationships is revealed. As a result of this, individual family socialization about guns and gun rituals coupled with family communication patterns seek to identify predictive patterns that would allow future research to more narrowly identify the origins of individual feelings about guns and likelihood of an individual owning a gun.