ABSTRACT
Catastrophe theory is a mathematical theory for explaining and predicting discontinuous changes of events with any of seven elementary models, two of which have seen substantial applicability in psychology and the social sciences. This chapter explains how the cusp and butterfly models have been used to model social change. This chapter explains the dynamic principles underlying how systems change over time and how these nonlinear models have been tested empirically. Applications are presented for organizational development and change, diffusion of innovation, civil unrest, and organizational and national security. The national security issues draw upon some critical thinking and catastrophe models in the political science literature.
