Can intergenerational practice offer a way of limiting anti-social behaviour and fear of crime?

Since coming to power in 1997, New Labour has identified reducing anti-social behaviour and fear of crime as key issues to be dealt with. In the main, its response has been to introduce a range of punitive measures. The main subjects of these punitive policies appear to be young people, whose activities are perceived to be closely linked to anti-social behaviour and fear of crime. Critics have argued that these measures merely increase the fear of crime amongst older generations by weakening informal controls and limiting contact between the generations. In this article, we review intergenerational practice (IP) which has been growing in popularity in both the USA and the UK, and which stresses the importance of creating dialogue between generations, which it is claimed can help prevent anti-social behaviour and limit fear. We examine critically the theory and practice of IP and suggest that although it has substantial flaws, it may provide a useful way forward to limiting anti-social behaviour and fear of crime, when linked with wider social regeneration programmes.