ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Normalization process theory

Okay, let us imagine that we have a bunch of toys, and we want to arrange them in a box. We start putting them variously, but we soon realize that if we put them at random, it will be challenging to find what we are looking for when we need it.

To make it easy to find specific toys, we should first group them by different types. For instance, we should put all the cars together, all the dolls in another set, and all the balls in another.

Similarly, when we talk about people, we can group them according to their different characteristics, such as age, gender, race, etc. We call this process normalization.

Normalization process theory is about understanding how people come together to create new systems and routines based on shared concepts and values. Just as we arrange toys in a logical way to make them easy to find and use, we can normalize group activities to make them intuitive and efficient. This process can involve identifying tasks, dividing up responsibilities, and agreeing on standards or best practices to follow.

Overall, normalization helps us build order and organization in our lives, whether it is with our toys, people, or activities. It is an essential part of making things work well and smoothly.