A Framework for Understanding Credibility: What Makes Credible Messengers “Credible” in a New York City–Based Sample of Gun Violence Intervention Programs?

The use of credible messengers to deliver violence reduction programs has spread rapidly since it was first used in a criminal justice context by Cure Violence in 1999. However, there is no clear conceptualization of what a credible messenger is, aside from vague definitions contained in the evaluation literature. We provide a “broad strokes” framework for developing a general theory of credibility that might extend from criminal justice across disciplines. The framework also provides the basis for developing a middle theory on credibility within the area of violence intervention. We demonstrate how this might be done, using the theoretical framework to explore a set of 22 interviews with credible messenger staff.