A sociological research on the problems of women whose husbands are in prison (Istanbul Esenyurt example)

The imprisonment of an individual, for whatever reason, leads to the emergence of many negative situations not only for the individual but also for his/her close environment, including his/her spouse and children, if any. The imprisonment of a man who is the breadwinner of the household causes his wife and children, if any, to be exposed to material and moral difficulties and to face many psychological, social and economic difficulties. In such a situation, taking into account our gender culture, it is certain that these problems will be much more negative for women whose husbands are imprisoned. For this reason, the main problem of this research is what kind of social, economic and psychological problems women whose husbands have been imprisoned face during the imprisonment process, their experiences of coping with these problems and their ways of existing in society or holding on to society. In this context, our research was conducted on the following problems related to women whose husbands are in prison: "What is the perspective of the social environment on women?", "What is the place of women in finding a job and working life?", "What are the changes in the economic situation of women?", "What is the psychological situation women are in against the problems they face?", and "What are the sociological and psychological problems of children whose fathers are in prison?". This research was conducted by adopting a qualitative research method and a semantic interpretive approach on the basis of a holistic approach. The research population is women living in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul and whose husbands are in prison. The sample of the research consists of 20 women living in the mentioned district and whose husbands are in prison. While forming the sample group of the research, snowball method was chosen because it is easily accessible. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 female participants who reside in Istanbul Esenyurt district and whose husbands are in prison. In these in-depth interviews, problems such as socioeconomic, psychological and social relations and domestic problems experienced by the participants were taken into consideration. The experiences of the participants about these problems and the way they solve them are important for the research from a sociological point of view. As a result, considering the data obtained in the research, it is seen that most women are psychologically negatively affected by this situation, they are disadvantaged in a masculine structure, and their difficult life experiences have become even more difficult. Their problems are exacerbated by reasons such as women's lack of or incomplete education due to their early marriages, their lack of experience in the labor market, and the lack of someone to take care of their children. Another dimension of the problems is violence within the family, alcohol and substance abuse by their spouses. In spite of all these problems, women who do not think of divorce were also encountered during the research process. It was determined that the common problems of the participants in not wanting to divorce were due to reasons such as seeing themselves economically weak and family pressure. The reason for family pressure was found to be the influence of traditional culture. Women want to benefit from the economic support of the state. Women demand that the state increase social assistance. The fact that women have these demands indicates the high number of economic problems. Keywords: Women, gender, crime, prison.