Normalization of Deviance

Normalization of deviance, a term coined by the American sociologist Diane Vaughan, is the process by which deviance from correct or proper behavior or rule becomes culturally normalized within a group. Vaughan defines the process as one in which a clearly unsafe practice comes to be considered normal because it does not immediately cause a catastrophe, following a long incubation period marked by early warning signs that are misinterpreted, ignored or missed completely. Vaughan's original example is the sequence of events leading to the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and the concept has since been applied to aviation safety, clinical practice in medicine and the public's own deviance from health measures intended to stop the COVID-19 pandemic; it can also exist alongside a corporate culture of silence, and normalization of deviance enabled by such a culture has been cited as a contributing factor in the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.