The analysis is based on a review of human participant concerns raised in meetings of the Violence and Traumatic Stress Institutional Review Group of the National Institute of Mental Health from 1991 to 1993 and the recommendations of the Panel on National Institutes of Health Research on Antisocial, Aggressive, and Violence-related Behaviors and their Consequences that met in June and September 1993. The issues cover eight areas: participation, informed consent, participant distress, reporting requirements, confidentiality, clinical issues, debriefing, and community involvement. Additional themes emerging from each of these areas are the issues involved the use of clinical populations or procedures and the involvement of the community in research design, process, and implementation. 25 references