Recent developments in fostering services have led foster carers increasingly to identify themselves as professionals. Kate Wilson and Julia Evetts review some of the changes in the service which suggest that foster care arguably can no longer be seen as a voluntary activity and that the changes in the role now required can only be carried out successfully in the context of a fully professionalised service. However, the article draws on three sociological perspectives to argue that professionalising foster care may only be a means by which managers can increase control of the workforce ‘from a distance’. The article argues that although professionalisation can be a way of bringing proper recognition, status and standards of practice, carers and practitioners should view cautiously the managerial motivation in moves towards it.
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