Relational ethics situates ethics within the context of relationships and respectful engagement characterised by recognition, support and acceptance of the other and their experiences. Relational ethics is borne out of a feminist ethics of care and recognises that objective and rational moral reasoning cannot always advise on the ‘right’ way to proceed – what is ‘right’ emerges within the dynamics of research relationships and can depend on the time, place and people involved. Relational ethics moves away from attempting to solve the ethical ‘problem’ to asking the ethical ‘question’.
Related Terms:
Ethics in practice,
Situated ethics,
Reflexivity,
Qualitative research
