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Family Socialization, Ideology, and Family Communication Patterns As Predictors Of Running Head: PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 1 Family Socialization, Ideology, and Family Communication Patterns as Predictors of Attitudes about Guns and Gun Ownership Christofer D. Rasmussen Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree Division of Communication University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point May 13, 2020 WE, THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, HAVE APPROVED THIS THESIS FAMILY SOCIALIZATION, IDEOLOGY, AND FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS AS PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS AND GUN OWNERSHIP BY CHRISTOFER D. RASMUSSEN Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts Division of Communication University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point 2020 THESIS APPROVED: ________________________________________ Date Dr. Rhonda Sprague (Chair) ________________________________________ Date Dr. Tamas Bodor _______________________________________Steve Hill Date Dr. Steve Hill PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 2 Introduction All too frequently, a story in the news features another school shooting, mass killing, or death at the hands of someone with a gun. With this reporting comes an explosion of rhetoric and heated discussion surrounding the relevance of the 2nd Amendment, gun control policy, and the role of firearms in American culture. Where do these beliefs and ideologies originate? What can be done to better understand why people feel so strongly on either side of the issue? Some would argue these tenets are born within the family: “humanity’s most enduring and most fundamental social institution” (Koerner & Schrodt, 2014, p. 1). Families are where children become socialized and, on a macro level, “how families function affects how societies at large function as well” (2014, p. 1). Therefore, we will look to the role of family communication when attempting to gauge how and when perceptions of guns and gun culture enter the lives of individuals. As a result, with a basic understanding of the history of gun culture in the United States, the role of socialization as it occurs in the family will be considered as another key component of how individual ideologies about guns are created. Family communication patterns theory (FCPT) has evolved over the past thirty years as a tool to help communication scholars evaluate interpersonal family relationships (Ritchie & Fitzpatrick, 1990). The application of this theory has enabled researchers to understand how conformity/obedience and proneness to open conversation impact family dynamics, decision- making, and transference of ideologies (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002a). In the past, this theory has been applied within the realm of communication apprehension (Elwood & Schrader, 1998), adult children’s conflict with romantic partners (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002b), parent- adolescent understanding (Sillars, Koerner, & Fitzpatrick, 2005), and family processes such as rituals (Baxter & Clark, 1996), to name a few. The present study, using the framework of FCPT, hopes to use it to explain the development of individual ideologies surrounding gun-rights/gun- PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 3 control and the congruence of inherited generational gun culture within the family. Application of this theory aims to address the derivation of individual firearms ideologies with the goal of understanding how family communication dynamics affects the transference and propagation of gun culture. The origins of gun culture and ideologies about guns and gun ownership, are at the heart of this study. Focusing on the role of family socialization and family communication theory, this study will look for relationships among these variables and gun ownership. The goal of this research is to uncover the connectivity between family communication patterns, family socialization, individual perceptions about gun culture, and gun ownership to see if there is any predictive power available that would suggest benefit via replication of this research. We will be looking to explore inherent social, familial, or cultural indicators of an individual’s propensity to feel favorably or unfavorably about firearms. This study is unique in that most social research focuses on the relationship between guns and crime from either a public health perspective (e.g., Hemenway, 2004) or criminological viewpoint (e.g., Harcourt, 2006). Not only will this study exemplify and solidify the role of the family as a constituent of ideology among both gun and non-gun owners, but also provide a groundwork for future studies linking family communication, socialization, and gun culture in the United States. Literature Review Introduction This study’s primary focus is the generational transmission of ideology surrounding gun culture in the United States. Because the family, through socialization, serves as a primary PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 4 source of information for ideological issues, Family Communication Patterns Theory offers one explanatory framework. This review will first examine the literatures surrounding the history of gun culture in America, then discuss historical family socialization techniques, and finally apply the evolution of Family Communication Patterns Theory as it relates to this study. Gun culture in the United States is steeped in history surrounding our independence as a nation, our freedom as individuals, and the violence that accompanied this evolution (Williams & McGrath III, 1976). Researchers underscore the instrumental, self-interest, and cultural conflict explanations of gun ownership that are derivative of this dialogue, which are perpetuated by membership in social groups, most notably the family (Kleck, Gertz, & Bratton, 2009). Instrumental explanations surrounding gun control involve the perception of guns and gun violence as either the root of the problem (“America needs fewer guns.”) or, conversely, the solution (“Americans need more guns.”). Self-interest explanations address the likelihood of the individual to experience gain or loss as a result of gun policy, while culture conflict explanations are “reflective of deeper cultural conflicts, and differing ideas about what guns symbolize” (Kleck, Gertz, & Bratton, 2009, p. 497). Understanding and applying these explanations, coupled with a brief history of the evolution of gun culture in the United States, will help provide the necessary background for undertaking this study. Gun Culture in the United States The role of firearms in the United States is one of complex, changing, and contentious (Yamane, 2017). One figure estimates that there are nearly 393 million guns in the United States, a count that includes shotguns, handguns, and rifles (Ingraham, 2018). This equates to more than one firearm per person in the United States alone. However, despite many facts and PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 5 figures surrounding gun ownership, gun statistics, and firearm literature, there are few sociological perspectives published about gun culture itself (Yamane, 2017, p. 1). In fact, most of the research and literature looks at guns as they relate to violence and crime either from the perspective of public health (Hemenway, 2004) or criminology (Harcourt, 2006). Guns were highly influential in the early colonial period and served a functional role within society. As Cramer states, “Gun ownership appears to have been the norm for freemen, and not terribly unusual for free women and at least male children, through the Colonial, Revolutionary, and early Republic periods” (Cramer, 2006, p. 236). During this time, guns were utilitarian, used for hunting and protection both in the populated East and the frontier of the West (Haag, 2016). One scholar, using probate records during 1765-1850, was able to show that following the Revolutionary War, most citizens had given up interest in firearms, with a scant 14% of death inventories including guns, only 53% of which were operational (Bellesiles in Utter & True, 2000). At the time, firearms also lacked much of their contemporary symbolism, a process facilitated by changing history and morphing perceptions of firearm functions. Following the Civil War, several simultaneous occurrences helped perpetuate American gun culture as we know it today. The first was the mechanical or mass production of guns, which made them far more accessible and affordable than ever before. Coupled with this production was the creation of a niche for these guns as commodities, a market that developed in tandem with gun culture growth (Haag, 2016). In addition, gun manufacturers such as Samuel Colt and Eliphalet Remington began mass producing firearms to be sold throughout the country, with much of their success resulting from the help of the federal government. According to Bellesiles, the US government aided Colt and Remington by, “providing capital, patent protection, technological expertise, and the largest market for guns” (Bellesiles, 1996, p. 440). PREDICTING ATTITUDES ABOUT GUNS 6 Around the same time, the NRA was formed in 1872 by Union veterans as an effort to advance the marksmanship of American soldiers (Utter & True, 2000). As Utter and True (2000) state, “The very need for such an organization (i.e., the NRA) testifies to the lack of a widespread gun culture in the United States prior to the Civil War” (p. 71). Simultaneously, the popularity of hunting as both a sport and livelihood continued to grow in the latter part of the 19th century. According to Hofstadter, “What began as a necessity of agriculture and the frontier took hold as a sport and as an ingredient
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