The stories we tell: supporting young mothers’ positive identity through personal narrative performance

ABSTRACT

Personal stories can have the power to form new narratives where negative assumptions dominate. This paper celebrates the voices of a group of young mothers who participated in a community/school programme informed by performance making. The process consisted of a series of workshops devised in collaboration with the participants. The findings share a positive experience that generated poetic responses to the challenges of being a young parent. We describe the creative process that position the group as experts in their own lives as they consider their value and identity as caregivers and capable young women, staging new contemporary identities.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal narrative
• applied theatre
• young mothers
• participation
• social justice

Introduction

It's 8.35am, and Leah is adjusting her phone as she steps back to perfect her TikTok video. She is dancing and laughing and one of her friends positions herself behind doing the same moves in perfect sync.

The school bell rings and she gathers her belongings; double P.E first, followed by a study period, English then Modern Studies. She skilfully moves her baby from one hip to the other as she opens the door while holding her bags for the school day ahead. Her baby's bag, filled with bottles and change of clothes, is in the pram she is manoeuvring as she keeps eye contact with her daughter, entertaining her with a smile. As we become swept up by the pupils in the high school corridor, we walk together and she tells me she has been up half the night because Ava is teething. She settles her in the nursery which overlooks the pitch where she is headed for her first period. She will be back at break to see Ava, again at lunchtime to feed her and then home time will see them leave for the day to return tomorrow and do it all again.

I’m getting on with school work but the real learning is about how to be a Mum. I’m doing them both at the same time now and it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing for us, for now and for our future.

To establish the context that the participating parents live their lives within, it is necessary to consider the wider societal notions surrounding young mothers. These still tend to allow for crude or incorrect assumptions to be assigned to these young people as a group, somehow distinct from others (Macvarish 2010; SmithBattle 2013). Such persisting attitudes can contribute to a marginalised and isolated experience of motherhood, with young parents often finding themselves excluded from engagement activities to which other people of a similar age may not experience the same barriers (Ellis-Sloan and Tamplin 2019). However, there is evidence to suggest that motherhood poses a time for young parents to make changes that address their new role, a time that brings about motivation and positive decision-making for themselves and their children (Cense 2019). Listening to the stories young mothers tell is crucial to understanding the social barriers they experience (Cense and Ruard Ganzevoort 2019). Nevertheless, throughout this process it became clear that these voices have been disregarded; the same judgements resurface again and again in the lives of young mothers on a regular basis with harmful and damaging consequences.

There is evidence of personal narrative as an agentic means to re-frame and stimulate change around perceived negative assumptions (Graham and Mcdermott 2006; Leckey 2011). Such work can create positive constructs of identity and forge new ideas about young women's capabilities during a potentially crucial period regarding how they, in adapting to support their new role, value themselves in relation to their responsibilities and maturity. This particular time in a woman's life can be understood as a far-reaching physical, mental and social metamorphosis encompassing drastic change (Jones 2023). Therefore, the process through which young women recognise, rethink and subvert existing narratives on teenage pregnancy can be understood as deliberate and intentional (Jones et al. 2019). These dialogues are seen to shift from individual experiences to an awareness of wider contexts of societal implications regarding how young mothers perceive their own lives (Schalet 2010).

This paper will seek to explore alternative perspectives through a creative process that deals with such attitudes through applied performance practices. We explore this process as one that has the potential to both bring marginalised voices to the forefront whilst considering the ethical complexities this involves in relation to the inherently challenging nature of the young families’ lives. The project sought to create a nurturing environment that could harness this dynamic time of maternal metamorphosis. The young mother's voice is central to this process in shaping and contributing to societal notions about themselves as a distinct group. The stories they tell serve as a contradiction to the stereotypical societal assumptions they encounter on what can be a daily basis.

The terms young parents/young mothers are interspersed throughout to avoid generalising towards young mothers or an assumption that young fathers are not present and therefore excluded. However, the participating parents comprised entirely of and identified as young mothers and consequently are referred to by this term.

The young parents support base

All young women who become pregnant or have children while of school age have the right to access education as detailed by Public Health Scotland. Any young parent, male or female, who is 19 or younger can access the support and development opportunities available through the Young Parents’ Support Base, which is situated in an urban area in the west of Scotland. The overall aim of the service at the Base is to support young parents to attain the best possible start in life for themselves and their children.

The Base has a nursery for the children of parents attending the secondary school. Some are at the antenatal stage, having transferred their learning specifically to access childcare within the same building, which enables them to continue their education whilst simultaneously caring for their baby under one roof. The Nursery is staffed by a team of Child Development Officers who also provide care and guidance as key workers to the individual young parent whose child they care for. There are other professionals working alongside them, such as Health Visitors, Teachers and Social Care Workers where necessary. Staff work in partnership with the young parent, their family where appropriate, and school to ensure all education and personal needs are met. In working towards this aim, young parents involved with The Base have opportunities to engage in a variety of individual and group work activities to support their development as a person and as a parent. The researcher-artist holds a Creative Practitioner role at the Base, delivering a socially engaged practice, both within the school and the community outreach service (where the creative work took place) and works alongside all other staff members to provide bespoke support and guidance to the young parents.

At a national level, there has been a substantial decline in the pregnancy and birth rate among younger mothers over the last 10 years (Abu Sabbah et al. 2022), the lowest since 1994. This reduction is a significant achievement. However, rates in the UK remain higher than those in the rest of Western Europe. A young woman living in the most deprived areas of Scotland is five times more likely to experience a pregnancy as someone living in the least deprived, detailed by Public Health Scotland (2022). A recent Scottish Government report on mental health equality found that people from these communities can be seen to be more affected by poor mental health and lack of access to good quality healthcare support, with women and girls being disproportionately impacted by poverty, which, in turn, can lead to social isolation, anxiety, depression and stress (Scottish Government 2023). The Young Parents Support Base aims to provide an early intervention approach to maximise health, well-being and positive life opportunities to young families, developing a sense of control over their own lives, allowing them to build self-efficacy and providing an equality of opportunities for their futures.

The primary researcher's role as Creative Practitioner at the Young Parents Support Base involved twice-weekly contact with the group, with sessions happening in a community outreach setting. The roles of the Creative Practitioner and researcher were combined, and relationships with young mothers were formed through the creative process-based workshops both prior to and during this time. The sessions afforded two opportunities; they supported the pre-existing relationship prior to the workshops and the value of that for developing trust, and they also offered the participating mothers the practical option to join the sessions while their babies were being cared for in the adjacent creche.

The participants were informed that their responses to all aspects of the creative work, which generated data-gathering opportunities, were confidential, with their identities anonymised to support truthful and authentic responses. Positive affirmation is embedded in the creative process and is in line with the overall aims of the Base. The researcher aimed to bring an awareness of the capabilities and achievements of the young parents and celebrate these. This reflects the safe environment of the Base, where differences of opinion and honesty are valued, creating a culture of respect and truthfulness. There is an assumption that this transpired in the responses the young women gave to interviews, the many moments of reflection, and generating of performance material that were consistent within the process, making for authentic responses throughout.

A qualitative approach is appropriate to understand complex situations and sensitive issues contained in the young women's lives (Graham and Mcdermott 2006). The personal narratives of the young mothers proved to be inherently complex and part of a wider system that could be oppressive and discriminating. An ethnographic approach is particularly relevant since it includes detailed viewpoints as a means to give value to the voices involved, acknowledging the complexity of their lives and holding these as essential components to the process (Hammersley 2006). Using personal narrative performing-making, the process set out to examine how considering the personal narrative of young mothers through participatory performance-making can support a positive framing of their lived experiences and identities.

Identifying stigmas and attitudes

Teenage mothers are often cast as an over-generalised group of irresponsible, single parents who rely on benefits and are unfit to care for their dependents (Campion 1995). These assumptions might feel outdated and it might feel difficult to imagine their persistence in contemporary collective ideas about young parents. However, listening to the accounts of the participants they are alive and well, operating as a daily reminder to young parents that they are constantly being judged. The charity See Me Scotland breaks down stigma into various categories. They explain these assumptions as examples of how stigma might be felt by young parents coming into contact with discriminating perceptions that then become internalised as self-stigma. This may consist of young parents holding themselves up to such attitudes and absorbing them as true when they hear and witness them in daily life. These beliefs also create structural stigma – where social institutions, whether it be health care or educational, contain rules and procedures that restrict rights and opportunities based on characteristics that can belong to being a young parent.

Assumptions directed towards early motherhood can bring about a negative framing and restrict choices for young women who are often already dealing with difficult circumstances. The deep impact of these notions on how young mothers feel about their capabilities has been shown to have a damaging and lasting effect, resulting in many withdrawing from public spaces and places of support where vital advice, peer learning and interaction are crucial for the wellbeing of themselves and their children (Barcelos and Gubrium 2014).

Feelings of shame around the stereotype of young motherhood can encourage some to distance themselves from such aspersions by pointing the finger towards their peers, casting other young mothers in this light in an effort to protect themselves from their internalised self-stigma (Ellis-Sloan 2014). This seems to create another isolating factor with such negativities projected onto their contemporaries in order to protect a more positive identity for themselves ultimately breaking down peer support.

Recent studies that compare stigmatisation around young mothers from the 1960s and 1970s to contemporary assumptions suggest that teenage mothers nowadays have less to deal with in terms of negative societal views (Macvarish 2010; Mahmood 2001). Although they may still be cast in a hostile light, there can be a tendency towards more sympathy and less harsh judgement.

They are able to keep their babies, continue at school, expect welfare support and can be validated for ‘struggling through’ as single mums. (Macvarish 2010, 3.2)

However, with judgements and pressures arguably applied to all ages of motherhood, be it middle-class mothers returning to work too soon or older mothers blamed for putting a career before childbearing, the young mother can be hailed for having a baby at the ideal childbearing age (Macvarish 2010). Attempts by the more compassionate observers to ‘rescue’ the teenage mother's reputation meet with the teenage mother's need to reconstruct for herself a socially affirmed identity following her ‘failure’ to abstain from sex or to heed ‘safe sex’ advice (Macvarish 2010, 3.3). Yet there is evidence that younger mothers consider themselves able to make the decision about becoming a parent from an informed, responsible perspective (Ellis-Sloan 2014). The progression of young parents’ maternal agency could be supported through peer relationships which hold the potential to reshape their narratives collectively as well as individually, bringing about much-needed communities of support.

Agency and choice

Agency is an important component to consider when attempting to understand notions of available choices within the experience of young mothers. Narrative agency could be described as the control of accounts young people give of themselves (and others) about their choices and their lives (Cense 2019). This could play directly into the agency employed by young mothers. There could be an assumption that these narratives, woven by young women, inherently contain agency that offer options for life choices to be made by themselves, guided by their desires. However, it is difficult to know how much choice is actually available. This may be because any available choices are happening within the restrictions of structural-stigma and society at large (Harris and Dobson 2015). This could support the notion that the narratives created by young women, in a belief that they have made personal ‘choices’ about their actions and therefore lives, have been created and internalised in an effort to reclaim a new identity that is not the one they are fed by societal assumptions about who they are (Cense 2019). However, this is not to suggest that speaking back to this power is impossible. Attempts ought to be made and should be supported and facilitated where needed, through the creative process, and in this instance, specifically through workshopping the complexities of being both trapped and having potential agency as coexisting forces.

Personal narratives

Personal narrative performance-making can be used as a creative means to amplify the everyday experience of young mothers in an aim to bring about a fostering of more positive contemporary ideas (Matarasso 1998). A personal narrative-centred process was ideal for this project and its exploration of various applied theatre conventions that might create the conditions for productive dialogs among the group and be transferable into their lives (Fahmy and Osnes, n.d.). Shaughnessy describes this creative process as a means of ‘developing new vocabularies to articulate hidden histories and gendered experiences as the personal becomes political and public’ (2012, 47).

As should be expected, the act of the young mothers performing their own story had complex yet liberating consequences, linked to what they referred to as a new and changed body. For some participants, they concealed the physical changes in their bodies for a long period of their pregnancy. Within the young parents’ recent lived experiences, the simple visibility of their pregnancy, combined with being young, was a catalyst for unwanted commentary and an intrusive gaze. However, embracing the powerful capabilities of these bodies, as becoming a site for acceptance and appreciation was one aspect involved in forging new identities. Alongside developing a more positive self-awareness regarding their new role, individuals experienced more visibility than they had during their antenatal or postnatal journey within the creative process. Moments of resonance came from revealing challenging experiences and internalised narratives, often stemming from pregnancy and birth. Sharing new found pride in these capable bodies, connections were made through interest in each other's stretch marks and traces of their pregnancies; these becoming part of a playful show-and-tell template for shared experiences and the markings to prove it. A line or scar became the evidence of new life; that of their child, and of their own too.

Engaging in a process of autobiographical performance work strengthened trust and legitimacy in their challenges that stimulated personal growth. This collaborative approach provides a space where performance and learning meet and where participants can engage in playing with ideas imaginatively through experiment and experience (Shaughnessy 2012, 10).

The participants’ involvement in shaping the sessions and the making process was steered by their ideas. This included data gathered from interviews, pre and post-process, to harness the meaning-making of these shifting identities. It drew data from field notes and creative writings by the participants, documentation of the process, and material generated for performances which was captured by the participants and facilitator. Similar to the positive experiences for participants who offer their stories to Verbatim processes, like feeling connection to and identifying with the actors that tell their story, the young parents reflected a sense of ownership and pride in their work. As in Verbatim processes, this has been recognised in individuals who have experienced a deep resonance to the whole creative process, albeit that they have been ‘replaced’ by an actor (Fisher 2011). Furthermore, embodying the intensity of performing these stories and making connections to their peers and audiences, ultimately gave way to less isolation and more acceptance.

Positive future identities were able to be forged through collaboration with peers about how things could be as opposed to how they have been. The creative process was not confined to rehearsals that led to a production. It went beyond the workshop sessions. The process aimed to stimulate change by generating ideas through provocations and gentle disruptions which might filter back into the community and wider society. How this happened is described in the breakdown of the workshop process in the pages that follow.

Storyscapes

Storyscapes can be understood in relation to the exploration of contemporary performance modes seeking to rewrite oppressive narratives with evidence of the constricted layers of ‘storyscapes’ (Cense and Ruard Ganzevoort 2019) that can exist in the lives of young mothers. Whilst these storyscapes can often be inherent and exist without one being aware, they differ from the notion of personal narrative performance as this is consciously applied as part of the individual taking part in, and having agency through, a process which has potential to draw attention and or liberate where appropriate. Storyscapes are a construct detailed by Cense and Ruard Ganzevoort (2019) which recognises how the experience of pregnancy can place young women in a position of being trapped within limited options regarding the narratives that surround them. This refers to conforming to life stories that have played out for their parents, partners and the communities they exist within. These storyscapes can be a powerful force in the decision-making of a young mother and have the potential to be consciously confronted when engaging with other narrative-building processes that may offer new trajectories.

Where a young woman positions herself within these layered narratives can dictate what the overarching influence will be; one of liberation, restricting of choices or the potential to forge new narratives (Cense and Ruard Ganzevoort 2019). This reflects both a struggle to gain any narrative agencies over one's own story and a potential opportunity to break free of the multitude of storyscapes oppressing young mothers’ choices and life trajectories. However, these situations are not free from judgements from family and society and an experiencing of negative reflections on the young woman whatever dominant agency she adopts. An alternative storyscape for the young mothers through role modelling positive parenting attributes and available life options can be accessed through the nurturing influence of the team of professionals in environments such as the Young Parents Support Base. This has the potential to provide an additional layer of storyscape to that of the one at home or within the community that may be a desirable route for the young parents to consider. In this instance, it includes participation in the performance-making sessions, where peers’ stories are a powerful force for decision-making and a reworking of narratives is facilitated in a positive and powerful way through creative arts-based means.

Authentic representations through applied theatre

The defined terms covered thus far within the context of applied performance practices have been deemed to enable a ‘transformational’ experience for participants engaged in such processes.

The applied theatre is not simply theatre employed as a teaching tool, the participant's interest is driven by what the theatre work says to them about life's challenges and how they can apply the theatre form as a transformative vehicle for investigating such challenges. (Taylor 2002, 93)

Despite ‘transformation’ holding the opportunity for positive outcomes, the arguably overused and awkward notion of this being ‘done’ to participants or a community has and should be problematised, and questions have been raised about its ethical and moral implications (Nicholson 2005, 12). Here the young parents could be understood as having applied the opportunity to reshape their narratives as ones that speak back to dominating societal assumptions, systems or storyscapes that they could be trapped within, posing positive outcomes. However, it is useful to trouble any notion of ‘transformation’ that can be associated with such processes. There is a need to be vigilant and aware of the use of Applied Theatre processes within the social and political aims these may hold, and while it may not always be possible to disentangle from these, there must be a deliberate attempt to be conscious of the implications of ‘transformation’ that may be projected onto the community without it being required or desired (Balfour 2009).

Participatory performance-making could offer a means to address this problematic concept. There is no need for the participant to undergo transformation; more the wider society that acts as an oppressor. A move towards performance-making around real lived experiences, inviting communities and audiences to share spaces involved in personal narrative performance-making, could develop dialogues that change perceptions. It should be acknowledged that inherent in the sharing of anything that centres around personal stories lies some risk (O’Grady 2017). However, the aim of fostering a positive understanding towards young motherhood in this circumstance seeks to promote agency and confidence through positive affirmation, recognising the challenges and exploring how young mothers overcome them in order to fulfil their caring roles. In the Young Parents Support Base, through a rigorous ethical process, this is guided by the participant group having control over what they choose to share, set within an optimistic atmosphere dealing with vital issues rooted in debate.

Change making can feel risky, even when the changes are positive. In circumstances where fear of risk taking can dominate, this group participation can serve as a theatre of celebration (Thompson 2006, 16). To further develop this approach of a safe and ethical practise, the practitioner-researcher has a responsibility over the short-, medium- and long-term existence of the work with a duty of care for the future (Baim 2020). The participants will not always be young parents. It is hard to know what place in their lives this current identity will occupy as they mature. Perhaps the somewhat ephemeral nature of devised work serves to exist in the here and now with only traces of memories to capture its existence. With this in mind, careful consideration of the documentation, sharing and storing of these stories needs close attention and to be placed within the context of long-lasting duties of care. This infrastructure of support throughout the process is rooted within the service described in the introduction to this study in the young parents' support base.

Thus far this study has described the wider implications and context through the lens of the socially engaged practitioner, considering what structures are essential to put in place around the creative process and its application to support an agentic experience for those involved that hold potential to recognise positive parental achievements. What follows is a description of the creative process and how it was experienced.

I see you

A series of creative workshops

I love it because it means you don't just have to just talk; you can do it through writing or performing and it helps you move on from hard times. (Lisa)

First, we established ground rules. We created a manifesto on an A-Frame paper, with each participant contributing points dealing with confidentiality, respect and hearing everyone's voice. We discussed issues around having similar experiences as young parents while resisting a simplification or telling one story but many experiences, some over lapping but always distinct. A check-in and check-out practice was established to bookend each session, and provide a time to share any concerns from in or outside the room deepening the safe space foundations of our work together.

To highlight the stigmas and attitudes that the young mothers encountered in their daily lives, the young parents identified perceived barriers and how they would like to overcome them within workshops. The group set about designing a space that represented this. A barrier to their parenting experience was identified and shared by each one of the participants; one that prevented them from feeling like capable and confident caregivers. This spanned incidents of aggression and confrontation from complete strangers to attitudes of mistrust and patronising comments from friends and family members on a regular basis. All connected to the assumption around being too young and irresponsible to have had a baby. The group felt this acutely from society at large and in many circumstances from the people in their lives.

Through discussion and generating ideas, it became clear that a design element would be central to the sessions with regard to how the room we worked in would look. We collected objects that captured the themes that had arisen to arrange in our workshop space. The young parents began to design a room that ‘reflected’ their feelings, setting up the space with many different mirrors; handheld mirrors you might have in a make-up bag, mirrors that are in baby books and toys, mirrors you would find at home and larger mirrors used in a changing room, hung on the walls or placed in the space including a mirror ball hastily attached to the ceiling. We sourced an old wing mirror from a car to capture the fleeting reflections of ourselves as we go about or daily lives in our environments. These represented the eyes of the world around us, be it society, our community, our peers and families, ourselves.

The participants were initially invited to walk around the space while practising being both as conscious and as unconscious of the mirrored reflections as possible. The walking was a nod to stories told of the many miles covered in early motherhood pushing our babies in prams, be it to get them to sleep, to find space away from home, or to deal with feelings of isolation. This was supported with an improvisational instruction to either sit, walk, or stand. This provided structure and created an environment that was later reflected to be their local park bench, a walk to the shops, or less tangible places, more imaginary, such as a mountain top above the clouds.

After the participants had used this time to create images, moments of interaction or solo actions both in response to the mirrors and each other we identified how the randomly hung mirrors seem to exist as a sort of gaze directed towards them as a distinct group. The ‘gaze’ only reflecting part of who they are, not being fully seen or heard, feelings of being self-conscious in these fragmented versions of themselves were shared amongst the group in unanimous agreement. We discussed societal assumptions being determined by negative and stereotypical views that are narrow and blinkered.

To progress from here we watched some footage back that had been taken to capture the exercise and highlighted certain moments, actions and images created in the open improvisation that resonated with us and that we liked or were particularly interested in. These were picked out and replayed in the space with instructions to speed up, slow down, exaggerate, minimise, to see how they changed meaning as the now performers took turns becoming an audience. A discussion took place immediately after responding to what they saw; struggles and challenges, beauty contained within the sometimes (extra) ordinariness of their day-to-day lives. There was a humorous recognition of minuscule details that resonated deeply as shared experiences and challenges. The movements processed from pedestrian to more fluid and sequential when replayed with instructions to amplify or use repetition, for example, supported with music to provide focus as the meaning making shifted and developed through watching, discussing and processing. Movements became powerful and playful, multi-layered but also clear and simple. As the actions and movements became slightly abstract they developed naturally into games and rule-based play. They also lent themselves to sequences that were learned and repeated as a routine that reflected the many daily routines they carried out as parents.

The participants had a final reflection on the experience through a solo creative writing exercise that allowed free flow of words that summed up the experience. This generated text that was developed as part of the performance, as well as providing space for personal reflection.

In the sessions that followed the mirrored space reflected new images back to the participants depending on the improvisations or provocations placed in the room. One of the sessions comprised of sharing food round a table, with speeches made celebrating each other's parenting and life triumphs or planned goals both real and imagined. On another occasion, we invited the babies and toddlers to interact with the space and with the simple sit-walk-stand improvisational structure along with their mums who facilitated this from within. This was chaotic, unpredictable, and joyous as one might expect. At times people were invited to watch; including the workers from the crèche, their peers and some family members. Here the texts, movement pieces and short scenes that the participants had devised were shared. These were informal sharing's comprised of tea, cake and playtime for the children. Each session concluded in discussion and reflective writing tasks.

On the final session, the participants placed a written placard alongside or on top of each mirror, containing a piece of advice or words that celebrated their peers’ unique achievements and aspirations, offering affirmation and praise both associated with their caring roles and of their hopes and ambitions as young woman and also sentiments and observations captured in the workshops. These responses of positive messages formed an attempt to take control of the narratives produced about each other and therefore themselves, providing an alternative narrative in contrast to the one they feels plays out beyond the workshop space. The room became a gallery or installation for others to experience the powerful identity-forming and reflections of young parenthood personas, non-more importantly than other young parents.

Issues arose to do with a tendency to make judgements about their own (and other young parents at large) parenting decisions and how easily it can be used to hide their own insecurities. In reflection, the young parents commented on seeing how freely and naturally they observed each other's behaviour to be when their children were invited to play and improvise with them in the performance space with the mirrors capturing a tapestry of interactions from all angles. How they saw each other as strong, tender, confident, fun and capable, replacing tendency to judge with something more empathetic.

The placards on the walls containing words of wisdom, advice and praise were used to create anonymous letters of hope and support. The young parents each had a task to leave their letter in a place that another parent or carer might find it, i.e. a playpark, baby change facility, the soft play. Perhaps these letters might serve as new ‘mirror’ interrupting the perceived negative assumptions in their communities by replacing them with hopeful, aspirational ideas around the value of caring roles and of being seen to be doing a good job? Passing forward our new found value and esteem in our parenting roles we imagined the feeling of finding the letters and the encouragement they might bring. The group created a new manifesto based on the specific challenges of young parenthood. They felt that had identified and made progress towards overcoming some of the barriers faced, through collaboration and peer support in a series of creative workshops devised and curated by themselves, the artist-facilitator, other agency support and the wider young parent community.

Findings and discussion

This study set out to examine the potential to support a positive framing of the lives of young mothers by exploring their lived experiences to inform a creative process based on devising performances. An analysis of the data gathered throughout the study showed that through this process, the young mothers who participated in the study were able to frame more positive narratives to counter the negative experiences which they experienced. Themes developed through the process of reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2022) related to notions of agency, stigmatisation, and attempts to resist the negative assumptions around the participants.

The findings of the study are consistent with other research which indicates that young parents experience extensive barriers in their roles and responsibilities as caregivers (Knowles 2017; Macvarish 2010; SmithBattle 2013). Schalet (2010) describes circumstances such as living with learning needs, or a disability, being no reason for a young person to experience barriers to learning. The additional support for learning advocated by Knowles for specific groups is rightly extended to the needs of the young parent as it is for others who are eligible i.e. children who are looked after and accommodated, suffering a bereavement or have a health condition.

Agency and choice in the face of stigma

There were numerous examples in the participants’ accounts which suggested that albeit upsetting, they were capable of coping with stereotypical assumptions about young mothers.

Bianca spoke about this in relation to her route to university,

People think your life is over when you have a baby but it's not. I’m going on to do my HNC (Higher National Certificate) in August. I’ve got as far as that and I’ll go to uni after that. I have this motivation with J to actually do something with my life, you know what I mean, even if others don't see it. (Bianca)

Carrie suggested that comparatively, contemporary times offer a better environment to be a young parent. The participants recognised value tensions in generational attitudes towards them as a reason for a lack of understanding about their life choices

I think that is why they are judgmental, because it was different for them and they think it should be the same for us, they don't understand it's not like that and it can be better now. They just don't want to see that. (Carrie).

Whilst acknowledging the evidence of stigmatising around young parents both in the literature presented and in the participant data, (Jones et al. 2019) it is important to recognise the attempts made by the participants to not only overcome these negative assumptions but to purposefully recognise and rework these by articulating what they observe to be unapologetic assumptions made of them that they reject (Ellis-Sloan 2014). This literature continues to suggest that the negativity experienced by young mothers may become useful as it provides a resistance against which they narrate their own version of events.

Gaining confidence in resistance to negative assumptions

All of the women expressed a growth in confidence particularly in relation to their responsibility as a young parent, with some citing their experiences of attending the creative sessions as contributing to this. Hailey spoke about the setting offering support and opportunities which she might not otherwise have had,

I just feel like you have a better understanding of yourself. You look into everything that bit more here with the tasks we do and if you didn't come here, to a place that is away from your day to day, you just wouldn't do that kind of a thing. (Hailey)

Collaboration was also recognised as an important aspect of the process;

The way we set up the workshops were so linked to all of our lives, it's all about working as a team and understanding each other. It helps us face the situations that we deal with just because we’re young and mums the negative stuff from people who don't even know us. (Bianca)

These positions are consistent with the findings of Cense (2019) who argues that there is a lot to gain from listening to the powerful narrative agency employed by young parents as they construct their identities in reaction to the dominant negative identities directed towards them from wider societal expectations. There was evidence of the young parents both taking control of their own narratives and simultaneously feeling trapped within oppressive attitudes (such as Bianca's comment about negativity towards her simply because she is young). The extent to which young mothers are able to exercise ‘choice’ free from the social contexts in which they exist is questionable but not necessarily undefeatable.

A non-judgemental space away from familial pressures

The responses from participants evidence the conditions created in the group that allow for full accounts of their lives, stories and opinions being contained within the performances. This happens without having to self-edit, unlike experiences in other settings. The value to the young parents of having their voices and opinions heard was reflected in a number of the participants’ comments as a factor that contributed towards the freedom to reject or reshape their experiences without fear of being judged.

You could just speak about things in the way it's not easy to with a family member who would judge you ‘cause they think they know who you are the best, know what you should be doing, but here it's more free and you know there's no judgement. (Evie)

My Mum still judges me a lot. She wants me to do it her way, it's her way or she doesn't like it, but when she came here to our group she had a good time and we spoke about it after too. (Sarah)

As explained earlier, young women tell different stories about teenage pregnancies (Cense and Ruard Ganzevoort 2019), their stories are embedded in the storyscape of their environment, which can sometimes offer a limited set of narratives. Normative discourses influence the stories young women tell about their pregnancies (Macvarish 2010; SmithBattle 2013). Findings from this current study indicate that the momentum of pregnancy and early motherhood can offer agentic possibilities to take up another position towards their social environment and develop narrative agency amplified by the use of applied performance-making processes.

The findings support the notions of existing storyscapes in the participants’ lives. For example, Bianca stated that she could not share her feelings and aspirations about shaping an identity as a young independent mother with her family as it would provoke arguments. Sarah explained the choices she makes for how she raises her daughter became a bone of contention with her mother and inviting her to a sharing provided the beginnings of a positive conversation afterwards. While the evidence does suggest resistance to the presence of oppressive storyscapes within the participant's life, highlighting the complex situation of being both trapped and potentially liberated is a reminder of how difficult it is to forge these new identities and the need to consider the ethical considerations of how we support any new found esteem beyond the parameters of the sessions. In practice this involves a process of relationship building as a multigenerational approach, involving where possible the extended families as part of the overall experience. The creative process provided the initial stages for the group as a way to ‘practice’ how these confident identities might play out, with a positive ripple reaching their loved ones and support networks.

Sharing our stories as performance-making

All of the participants reflected on their personal narratives in the creative processes in order to positively contextualise and bring value to their lives. There was evidence that talking about their experiences as part of a creative process served as meaningful and affected how they perceived themselves and their capabilities. Although it was the artistic stimuli that drove the creative process forward, it is true to say that this encapsulated a therapeutic value as inherently experienced by the participants, indicative of participatory performance work (Taylor 2002).

When we worked with doing the writing and then performing it, just seeing it written down made me feel like the situation I had been talking about wasn't as bad as it had seemed. (Bianca)

Talking about our lives is important to me, like it helps me see stuff that I was ignoring ‘cause we can use the drama work as a way to tell people about ourselves. (Hailey)

Limitations

The close relationships described above allowed for trust and honesty within the collaboration. Any bias was mitigated by space for critique and openness about ways of working together shared throughout with the young parents’ opinions consistently part of the shaping of the sessions.

There is clear evidence in the findings describing the compatible nature of the collaboration facilitated by the participant-researcher as part of the community outreach with the Young Parents’ Support Base. This was an example of the multifaceted role of the socially engaged practitioner as one distinct from that of perhaps a drama workshop leader running a session. The socially engaged practitioner acknowledges and holds space for a number of areas that require a critical lens and provides acknowledgement of inherent complexities. They can facilitate a number of arts-based interventions that best suit the needs of the group, ideally as a part of a multiagency team of professionals described within the service at the Base. The experience of listening to the challenges of young parents opens up a complex network of considerations which can be difficult to navigate. It is important to acknowledge the lack of longitudinal data and this would be an area which would merit such a study.

For many of the participants, there were barriers to attending group sessions, which could be a limitation regarding access to participation. These were for complex reasons including issues related to ill health and homelessness and of course caring roles to name a few. This illustrates pressures encountered by young mothers as some become carers for a family member, as well as their own children, adding to the complexity of unrecognised needs and potentially falling through the gaps of support if they are unable to attend the group (Riddell and Weedon 2016).

It is important to recognise these are not unique situations but those encountered by many stigmatised and marginalised individuals. With the establishing of complexities, it is crucial that holding the creative space for personal narrative-driven work is facilitated with skill and sensitivity on behalf of the practitioner. Staging these stories alone is not sufficient considering the intensely personal nature of the material generated from such processes. It is crucial that the facilitator-artist interrogate the ethical considerations with rigour in order to maintain clear boundaries, guided by the participant/community, that avoid exposing or harming those involved (Baim 2017).

Conclusion

This study has examined the potential of working with personal narrative performance-making with young parents in an aim to develop positive identities. The evidence has indicated that the participating young parents were able to reference this as part of a creative process facilitated by the artist-researcher. It is clear that while these young parents felt pressure to navigate negative assumptions about their situations from many aspects of society, through a reworking and development of their personal narratives they were able to contextualise this, allowing them to feel positive about their futures and capabilities.

The conditions in the group, created by the collaboration of participants and the artist-researcher, made for a trusting environment in which to stimulate change and develop authentic representations that participants see as fitting for young parents today. It is of significance to recognise the infrastructure of support these young women were accessing as part of the overall service at the Young Parents Support Base. This contributed to references regarding trust and authenticity. Further research is required in this area of personal narrative performance making, specifically around how to develop collaboration using creative interventions as a core strategy to engage and develop positive outcomes for young parents.

Despite the encouraging results, this study is a reminder of the complex terrain young mothers navigate on a daily basis. It is important to recognise that there is not one answer or solution that could or should suggest a fix when acknowledging the challenges of the issues experienced. However, this should not inhibit the exploration of these challenges. This study has demonstrated the potential to stimulate change through a creative process. Enabling conversations from the point of view of these young parents through creative expression served to puncture some of the tensions experienced within the complex nature of their lives and societal influences that exacerbated already challenging circumstances. As Ava summed up:

I have more confidence now, a lot has changed from when I first started coming here, like I don't let what people think affect my mood. I feel like I have something to say and I can make it heard in the performances and it makes us all feel stronger.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).