Clown-based Social Work as Dissent in Child Protection Practice

Abstract

Abstract This article presents Clown-Based Social Work (Steggall, 2023) as a form of dissent consistent with Paul Michael Garrett’s (2021a) conceptualisation of Dissenting Social Work. It contributes to the debate sparked by Chris Maylea (2020) and continued by Paul Michael Garrett (2021b) and Joe Whelan (2022). Clown-Based Social Work is an outcome of Steggall’s, doctoral research findings. Clown theory is a relational practice that offers an alternative way of being with people in an impossible situation. Correlations between Clown Theory and Social Work Theory were observed and explored. These correlations were conceptualised into Clown-Based Social Work as a new approach to child protection practice. Three key concepts of Clown-Based Social Work are discussed as forms of dissent from established ways of knowing and normative familial ideals in child protection work: Failure, Stupidity and Play. These three concepts are explored as relational practices that can enact dialogue between service users and social workers. This discussion is both a response to what Maylea (2020) has called the contemporary failures of social work and to Garrett’s (2021a, p. 226) call for dissenting imbued perspectives in social work practice.