credible witnesses
Credible Witnesses is an AHRC-funded research project dedicated to exposing and challenging the testimonial injustices faced by young people when they are disbelieved by professionals due to their identity. Through drama and performance, we empower young people to articulate their lived experience, shape professional training, and push for better outcomes in youth services.
Listening to young people differently
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Listening to young people differently |
ABOUT OUR RESEARCH
Credible Witnesses is led by Dr Amanda Stuart Fisher from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London). We work across performance, philosophy, social work and other disciplinary contexts to better understand how young people experience testimonial injustice, and how self-narrated forms of performance can begin to lay the ground for forms of testimonial justice.
Developed in partnership with Little Fish Theatre and Oldham Theatre Workshop, with involvement from Phosphoros Theatre, Credible Witnesses works with young people in London and Oldham through a series of workshops and a touring performance. The project will also work alongside social workers and other professionals working in young people’s services to produce training and other accessible outcomes with the potential to transform professional practice in schools, social work, and criminal justice settings, empowering young people to speak out about their experiences and ultimately drive change.
STORIES FROM YOUNG PEOPLE
Project partners Little Fish Theatre and Oldham Theatre Workshop delivered a series of workshops in schools, colleges and youth groups, and Phosphoros Theatre delivered workshops for young facilitators from refugee backgrounds. Using creative approaches including poetry and spoken word, devising and reflection, young people explored personal and shared experiences of testimonial injustice occurring in education, healthcare, social care and criminal justice settings.
Our Youth Advisory Group, made up of young people from Oldham and London, shared how it feels to be routinely disbelieved by professionals and how identity and intersectionality factor into these experiences. We gathered testimonies and insight from the young people we met, and their voices are woven throughout the research.
One young person said: ‘When you’re not believed, you feel the walls are closing in. You feel under pressure to stay in control’
TOURING PERFORMANCE
We collaborated with award winning playwright Farah Najib to produce a brand new play inspired by the lived experiences of the young people we’ve worked with throughout our research. The play, Credible Witnesses, tells the story of three characters struggling to have their voices heard in situations of systemic failure arising in healthcare, policing, immigration and education.
Credible Witnesses toured secondary schools in Oldham and London in October 2024, followed by workshops. The play was directed and produced by Little Fish Theatre in collaboration with Oldham Theatre Workshop, and reached 500 young people.
IMPROVING PRACTICE
We are creating toolkits to be used by youth service professionals and social workers to find more equitable ways of listening to youth experiences. The toolkits will be free to use and include research and insight from young people as well as practical suggestions to be used in 1:1, group and staff settings. We hope the toolkits will prompt critical reflection on professional practice and serve as an empowering way of seeking testimonial justice in work with young people.
Alongside our toolkits are in-person Continuing Professional Development sessions, delivered in London, Oldham and further afield to practitioners from across youth, education, policing and social care.
If you are interested in booking a training session for your team or department please get in touch.
