ABSTRACT
To understand the actions of key people involved in the development of the US radiological weapons program and how they came to lead and organize an unconscionable number of human-subject experiments without consent in the development of that program, this chapter examines secrecy, and group dynamics that contribute to deviance in society. Although we can acknowledge that some Gabriel and Sunshine research was beneficial for policy outcomes connected to nuclear bomb tests, atomic bomb blasts were purposeful, non-random military events conducted by state officials who had obtained no public consent for resultant harmful radiation exposure to Americans. Particular consideration must be given to potential negative affects on society and moreover to vulnerable populations. If the group's goals and one's individual contributions to those goals are contrary to one's personal values or larger societal and even global social norms, one must extricate oneself from the group immediately during the initial stage of discomfort.
