Date
9-17-2026
Department
School of Communication and the Arts
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Communication (PhD)
Chair
Robert K Mott
Keywords
firearms, Hollywood, content analysis, social construction of reality, symbolism, semiotics
Disciplines
Communication
Recommended Citation
Paduano, Anthony L., "The Social Construction of Firearm Meaning in 2022 Hollywood Films: A Qualitative Content Analysis" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8871.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8871
Abstract
This qualitative study investigated how meaning was socially constructed around firearms in mainstream American cinema. The study used Berger and Luckmann’s (1966) social construction of reality as the primary framework, with semiotic analysis and Bandura’s (1977, 1986) social learning theory as supporting lenses, treating firearms as culturally loaded signs whose meanings were encoded and stabilized through narrative convention. A qualitative content analysis of 50 films, 2022 Hollywood films in which firearms were prominent enough to meet the study’s inclusion criteria, was conducted using a two-pool design that combined purposive selection with random selection from a bounded pool of commercially prominent films. Scene-level coding captured firearm type, narrative function, social signification, moral framing, consequence structure, and symbolic meaning by genre. Five major themes emerged: normalization of firearm presence across everyday settings; the construction of heroism and power through armed competence or a character’s refusal to use firearms; gun violence as a recurring mechanism of conflict resolution; selective moral framing of gun users through sympathy cues and consequence display; and firearms as markers of gender and identity transformation for marginalized characters. Sub-question findings revealed that firearm meanings varied by genre convention rather than following a single fixed pattern. The findings aligned with Berger and Luckmann’s processes of externalization and objectivation, supporting the conclusion that firearm-prominent 2022 Hollywood films made particular firearm meanings culturally available by repeatedly linking firearms to power, legitimacy, danger, and narrative closure.
