Normal Accidents in Military Operations

Modern military forces experience a wide variety of accidents, including explosions, collisions, fratricide, and "friendly fire." These accidents are examined as a problem of organizational structure by applying Perrow's theory of normal accidents to modern military operations. Modern...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological perspectives 1993-12, Vol.36 (4), p.377-391
Main Author: Hicks, Louis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents
Armed Forces
Artillery
Friendly fire
Industrial accidents
Military (accidents)
Military engagements
Military operations
Military technology
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Structure
Radiation accidents
Sociology
United States
War
War casualties
Warfare
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Summary:Modern military forces experience a wide variety of accidents, including explosions, collisions, fratricide, and "friendly fire." These accidents are examined as a problem of organizational structure by applying Perrow's theory of normal accidents to modern military operations. Modern combat operations score so highly on complexity and interdependence that they can be expected to trigger structurally induced normal accidents. As military operations become more tightly coupled and more complicated, system accidents may become more frequent. Some military technologies are sufficiently complex and tightly coupled for system accidents to be "normal," that is, inevitable.
ISSN:0731-1214
1533-8673
DOI:10.2307/1389394