NCJ Number
85717
Date Published
1981
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article proposes the use of a knowledge utilization framework to enhance the readiness of the mental health system for appropriate victim programs.
Abstract
Surveys of selected representatives of the mental health delivery field would be used to identify major issues and concerns in the victim arena, providing a base to determine both what knowledge is available and what additional knowledge must be obtained. Establishment of reciprocal communication links among knowledge users and developers would be central to the success of the framework, and it is expected that the survey feedback format would help unify the relatively fragmented audience of victims policy into a cohesive and perhaps forceful professional culture. As information is developed and refined through the surveys, it would be disseminated both to targeted groups and to the field as a whole. Thus, the framework would contrive to stimulate implementation of specific innovations in specific settings, as well as to cultivate victim sensitivity in the mental health field as a whole. Reaction to the disseminated knowledge would be incorporated back into the survey, thereby permitting a continuous process of knowledge development, guided by relevant experience and opinion. The intent of the knowledge utilization framework is to take an evolving problem area of apparent saliency, provide a means to truncate delays in the knowledge development process, and, without compromising any of the safeguards against precipitous or premature use of untested knowledge, assist in the formation of a professional culture whose members are aware of the issues, informed by relevant research, and ready to take appropriate action. Tabular data and 18 references are given. (Author summary modified)