Creators: Madison Delgado and Spencer Steele
Community Partner: Alton Middle School
Cohort Theme: Spatial Justice and Resilience in the Face of Climate Change, Alton, IL
Faculty Mentor: Jessica DeSpain
Project History
Our team researched the causes and impacts of violent crime in Alton, Illinois, particularly among youth. Youth violence in Alton, Illinois, is shaped by a combination of historical, economic, and social factors that make the issue unique to the city. While similar challenges exist in other places, Alton’s particular circumstances highlight how local conditions can influence youth behavior and violence. After exploring a number of factors driving youth violence, including economic downturn, spatial injustice that has isolated particular neighborhoods, and a lack of youth programs, we developed an after-school program that would respond to some of these challenges. Our goal was to give youth in Alton the opportunity and a safe place to voice any violence they may have experienced. Over the course of a semester, our team worked with twelve justice-impacted middle school students. Using digital storytelling along with a variety of media and skills including web design, podcasting, oral history collection, video production, and digital visualization, the middle school students created their own digital stories.
Alton Crime Map
We created this crime map as a tool to visualize the relationship between violent crime and spatial injustice. It is a heat map of crimes reported in Alton for 2020-2024 using Illinois State Police crime records. The crime map has the potential to foster greater awareness of crime trends within the Alton community, empowering residents to make informed decisions about their safety. By identifying high-crime areas, the map can serve as a resource for neighborhood watch groups and encourage collaboration among residents to address local concerns.