Gun Ownership and the 'Southern Subculture of Violence'

• NCJ Number: 106943
• Journal: American Journal of Sociology Volume: 93 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1987) Pages: 383-405
• Author(s): J Dixon; A J Lizotte
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper develops a model that specifies the relationship between regions and subcultures of violence while determining the relationship of both to gun ownership.

Abstract

Analysis of patterns of gun ownership among individuals shows that the violent values indicative of subculture-of-violence membership are unrelated to region when structural factors are taken into account. Moreover, gun ownership is unrelated to the violent values indicative of subcultures of violence. Instead, both region and gun ownership are related to defensive attitudes that are not indicative of a subculture of violence. These results cast doubt on the validity of the reformulated subculture-of-violence thesis that emphasizes a regional subculture of violence with guns as a central feature. While interpersonal violence, such as homicide, may be a function of subcultures of violence, these subcultures operate independently of region and may be associated with, but are in no way dependent on, firearms. Tables, 11 footnotes, and about 30 references. (Author abstract modified)