Legal and Ethical Considerations in Research with Sexually Active Adolescents: The Requirement to Report Statutory Rape

Encouraged by congressional action, state legislators in the mid-1990s began strengthening and enforcing statutory rape laws in an effort to lower teenage pregnancy rates and welfare costs. One approach has been to classify statutory rape as child abuse, making reporting mandatory for designated pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2002
Main Authors: Findholt, Nancy, Robrecht, Linda C
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Alan Guttmacher Institute
Children & youth/Families & family life
Crime/Criminal justice
Health care policy
Reproductive health
Science/Technology/Public policy
Welfare
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Encouraged by congressional action, state legislators in the mid-1990s began strengthening and enforcing statutory rape laws in an effort to lower teenage pregnancy rates and welfare costs. One approach has been to classify statutory rape as child abuse, making reporting mandatory for designated professionals. This requirement presents significant challenges to researchers who work with sexually active adolescents. Ethical, legal and scientific responsibilities are often in conflict, and few guidelines exist to assist the researcher. In this comment, the authors explore some of these conflicts and suggest strategies to prevent scientific misconduct and advance science.