Madness as man finally turns to female criminals (5)
I believe the answer is:
mafia
'criminals' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'madness as man finally turns to female' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'man' could be 'm' (M is an abbreviation for male or masculine) and 'm' is found in the answer.
'female' could be 'f' (common abbreviation) and 'f' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'aia' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mafia that I've seen before include "Sicilian criminal organisation" , "Criminal organisation also known as Cosa Nostra" , "Group exerting a hidden sinister influence" , "Italian criminal organisation" , "Sicilian criminal body" .)