Evaluation of the perception and awareness of law faculty graduates on forensic social service: Bursa example

Nowadays, especially with the influence of technology, people, society, culture and related phenomena are in constant change. Depending on this situation, new lines of work are emerging in well-established professions as well as new professions. Due to the increasingly complex social structure and increasing problems; Crime rates and types of crimes are also increasing. The increase in crime types and their rates causes the number of victims to increase and, beyond that, victimization to become more complex. Considering both human and social psychology and health in this confusion; The evolution of law into this complex structure makes cooperation and working together essential in solving problems. The discipline and profession of social work has also undergone many changes and developments in a universal sense. As a result, many sub-branches of social work were formed and the profession was transferred to various fields. Social work is already an eclectic science by its nature and, of course, it is an indispensable part of the social structure; The basis of social welfare and peace is also in relations with the science and profession of law. Forensic social work, in the most general terms, refers to the intersection of law and social work, and social workers form part of the team that will intervene in problems that may arise in the field of justice. Experts working in the field of Forensic Social work; It works in collaboration with lawyers, judges, prosecutors and other experts and personnel. Considering the field of forensic social work, justice workers with whom social workers should work together; It is necessary to know the social work profession, social workers, and social work fields. In this context, the research is from the perspective of law graduates; It aims to reveal the awareness of forensic social work and the factors affecting this awareness, the appearance of social workers, whether teamwork is applied in the field of justice, and the suitability of the practices in the field of justice to the background of forensic social work. For these purposes, the research was designed with qualitative methods and a single questionnaire consisting of 27 questions was prepared to collect the data. The study was conducted with 20 participants in Bursa between 13.03.2023-13.04.2023. As a result of the research, it was concluded that there are not enough social workers in the judicial field and that the institutions that will carry out social service activities are relatively insufficient in their duties of promotion and execution; the administrative deficiency dimension of the problems experienced in this field; It has been determined that both the justice workers' failure to pay due attention to professional and humanitarian ethical concepts and the society's low belief and knowledge in the sense of justice create obstacles to awareness caused by the society and the justice structure. From the interviews with lawyers, it becomes clear that social workers, lawyers, and even all courthouse staff do not provide full teamwork. The biggest reason for this is thought to be the system. Forensic social work and modern law practices; It has objectives such as establishing and preserving concepts such as restorative justice, human rights, social justice, prevention of recidivism, and human dignity and value. According to the statements of the participating lawyers, it is determined that current legal practices are far from these values. Keywords: Law, Social Work Awareness, Forensic Social Work, Social Worker, Team Work,