Don't Forget your Full Metal Jacket! Maternal Perspectives on American Gun Violence
Faculty Sponsor
Lisa Silvestri, Gonzaga University
Research Project Abstract
According to Celinska (2007) and Moore (1994) the gun-control debate is namely a contention over individualist versus collectivist values. Two separate cultures have emerged in the discussion of gun legislation: pro-gun individualists and pro-legislation. However, the cultural norms and views of these two sides are not mutually exclusive. Through critical discourse analysis, both collectivist and individualist persuasive materials have relied on the ethos of mothers and the maternal responsibility to protect and nurture. However, individualists advocate education for gun safety and personal responsibility; collectivists support the use societal structure through laws to maintain safety. Though the methods differ, both cultures share a common desired end. Therefore, Heifetz’s theory of leadership as the facilitation of loss (2004), to recognize each cultures’ views, and Burns’ theory of adaptive leadership (1979), to establish new cultural norms, could possibly assist repair sequences and navigate towards a compromise in the debate on gun control.
Session Number
RS10
Location
Robinson 210
Abstract Number
RS10-e
Don't Forget your Full Metal Jacket! Maternal Perspectives on American Gun Violence
Robinson 210
According to Celinska (2007) and Moore (1994) the gun-control debate is namely a contention over individualist versus collectivist values. Two separate cultures have emerged in the discussion of gun legislation: pro-gun individualists and pro-legislation. However, the cultural norms and views of these two sides are not mutually exclusive. Through critical discourse analysis, both collectivist and individualist persuasive materials have relied on the ethos of mothers and the maternal responsibility to protect and nurture. However, individualists advocate education for gun safety and personal responsibility; collectivists support the use societal structure through laws to maintain safety. Though the methods differ, both cultures share a common desired end. Therefore, Heifetz’s theory of leadership as the facilitation of loss (2004), to recognize each cultures’ views, and Burns’ theory of adaptive leadership (1979), to establish new cultural norms, could possibly assist repair sequences and navigate towards a compromise in the debate on gun control.
