Diane Vaughan is an American sociologist and professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She is known for her work on organizational and management issues, in particular in the case of the space shuttle ''Challenger'' Disaster. In the understanding of

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

and

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

, Vaughan is perhaps best known for coining the phrase "

normalization of deviance Normalization of deviance is a term used by the American sociologist Diane Vaughan to describe the process in which deviance from correct or proper behavior or rule becomes normalized in a government or corporate culture. Vaughan defines this as ...

", which she has used to explain the sociological causes of the '' Challenger'' and ''Columbia'' disasters. Vaughan defines this as a process where a clearly unsafe practice comes to be considered normal if it does not immediately cause a catastrophe: "a long incubation period efore a final disasterwith early warning signs that were either misinterpreted, ignored or missed completely." In the study of relationships, Vaughan is known for her research into the process of

relationship breakups A relationship breakup, breakup, or break-up is the termination of a relationship. The act is commonly termed "dumping omeone in slang when it is initiated by one partner. The term is less likely to be applied to a married couple, where a brea ...

. Vaughan received her Ph.D. in sociology from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and is a laureate of the ''Public Understanding of Sociology'' ''Award'', of the American Sociological Association. ''The Challenger Launch Decision'' won the Rachel Carson Prize (inaugural winner) and the Robert K. Merton Award as well as being nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

Bibliography

* ''Controlling Unlawful Organizational Behavior'' (1983). * ''Uncoupling. Turning Points in Intimate Relationships'' (1986), Oxford University Press. * ''The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture and Deviance at NASA'' (1996), Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *

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Faculty bio
* :Wikibooks:Professionalism/Diane Vaughan and the normalization of deviance {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Diane American sociologists American women sociologists Columbia University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Ohio State University alumni

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