Statutory rape in Malaysia: A comparison of characteristics between male adolescent and adult groups

This dataset comprises responses from 77 adolescents and 35 adults who were situated in a carceral institution (juvenile detention center or prison) during the time of data collection. Forty-three of the adolescents and all adult respondents committed statutory rape (non-forcible and non-incestual), while the rest of the adolescents committed other offences (but they were in a romantic relationship, non-sexual, with an underage partner). All participants in this study were male, as only male individuals could be charged with statutory rape laws.

The main hypothesis of this study pertained to the differences of characteristics (perceived relative power, perceived romantic love and aggression) between adolescent and adult perpetrators of statutory rape. At the same time, another hypothesis was formulated comparing between adolescents who had sex with an underage partner, using the same set of predictors, with other adolescents who were in a romantic relationship with an underage partner but did not engage in sex. Two control variables were included in the analyses – alcohol consumption and pornography consumption. These hypotheses were tested using binary logistic regressions.

The main findings indicated support for the first model testing Hypothesis 1 that compared adolescent and adult perpetrators of statutory rape based on the set of predictors; however, the model that compared adolescents who had sex and adolescents who did not have sex (Hypothesis 2) was not supported. In the first model, the analysis showed that adolescent and adult perpetrators of statutory rape were significantly different in all predictors, except for the control variables. For Hypothesis 2, while the model was not supported, two of the individual predictors, perception of relative power and alcohol consumption were significantly different the two adolescent groups.