Abstract:

Criminal behavior among women is seen at a lower level compared to men. This situation is also valid in terms of the numbers of female offenders in the world and in Turkey. However, according to the statistical data of recent years, it has been determined that the rate of increase in the number of female offenders is higher than the rate of increase in the number of male offenders. In this article, the reasons for this increase will be analysed looking at social factors and gender roles’ effect on female offenders and evaluating feminist social work practices for women who have committed crimes. In order to better understand the purpose of the study, topics such as crime, gender, female offenders, social work and feminist theory are explained, and feminist social work interventions were evaluated. The study revealed that, the concept of crime should be analysed in the axis of femininity and masculinity. In addition, the study found out some common features in terms of types of crimes committed by women when the general situation of female offenders in Turkey was evaluated. One of the final goals of this study, is to assess the role feminist social work can play in crime prevention among women and empowering women, having a more comprehensive and effective feminist social work practice in the field.

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