The anatomy of female homicide: Psychiatric and criminal profiles of women offenders in Türkiye

Comparative data on the clinical and criminological profiles of female homicide offenders from non-Western jurisdictions remain scarce. This retrospective observational study characterised 112 consecutive female offenders referred between June 2018 and June 2023 to the Council of Forensic Medicine (Adli Tip Kurumu, ATK) of Türkiye the national-level referee body that provides binding forensic psychiatric opinions to all criminal courts, for intentional or attempted homicide, identifying independent predictors of full exemption from criminal responsibility under Article 32 of the Turkish Penal Code. The cohort (mean age 33.1 years) was predominantly of low educational attainment (71.5%) and unemployed (67.0%). Most offences occurred domestically (69.7%). Victims were primarily intra-familial, including the offenders' own children (42.0%, with neonates comprising a third of child victims), intimate partners (21.4%), and other relatives or non-relatives (36.6%). Nearly half (49.1%) had a documented pre-offence psychiatric diagnosis. Ultimately, 16.1% were adjudicated non-responsible; all of these cases involved psychotic-spectrum diagnoses or excitative/peripartum states, namely acute manic and postpartum psychotic episodes. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that active delusions at the time of the offence (aOR 48.0) and a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis (aOR 8.7) strongly predicted legal exemption, whereas filicide paradoxically served as a negative predictor (aOR 0.14). Exploratory k-means cluster analysis suggested two tentative, hypothesis-generating typologies, a "filicide-reactive" group and a "psychotic/non-domestic" group, with the latter exhibiting a 4.5-fold higher rate of criminal exemption. These findings indicate that active psychotic symptomatology, rather than the specific victim-offender relationship, dictates criminal non-responsibility. The data underscore the clinical necessity for systematic screening protocols targeting perinatal mental disorders, acute psychosis, and intimate-partner violence upon initial contact with the criminal justice system to improve both forensic accuracy and preventative interventions.