Edited by Nancy M P King, Gail E Henderson and Jane Stein, Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1999, 279 pages, US$ 39.95, (hc) US$18.95 (sc).

This book challenges traditional approaches to research ethics based on moral principles and advocates a new, relationship-based paradigm for research ethics. The book begins with an explanation of the editors' reservations about the principalist approach pervading current regulations governing research. The editors' concerns are three-fold. First, they cite the continuing errors and abuse of human subjects of research in America despite federal regulations. Secondly, they argue that American regulations, grounded in the principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice, should not be applied in all cultures. Finally, the editors argue that regulation is not the answer to all ethical questions concerning human subject research. In contrast with traditional approaches, the relationships paradigm emphasises relationships, interactions, power, responsibility and contextual and historical considerations in examining moral issues.

This book has a case-plus-commentaries approach. Six cases, from …