Imprisoned Minds Authors Visit Awake!
Our recent guest speaker, Erik S. Maloney, is currently serving a life sentence in the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry. But his sentence does not define him. As you will see in his letter below, written especially for you, he is a man who has dedicated his life to solutions. We are proud to introduce our readers to Erik Maloney and invite you to join us in experiencing the stories and circumstances so often connected to incarceration in his book Imprisoned Minds: Lost Boys, Trapped Men, and Solutions from Within the Prison
Dear Awake Windows and Doors customers, on December 13, 2024, I had the honor of being a guest speaker, along with Arizona State University professor Dr. Kevin A. Wright, at Awake’s annual company meeting. My name is Erik S. Maloney. The presentation that I gave was significant because it was the first time someone who is currently experiencing incarceration was able to present virtually at Awake’s annual company meeting. Yes! You read that right. I am, and have been, incarcerated in the Arizona Department of Corrections for over twenty-five years. However, my presentation wasn’t about my incarceration. It was about the release of mine and Kevin’s book: Imprisoned Minds: Lost Boys, Trapped Men, and Solutions from Within the Prison
Twenty years ago I decided to study psychology to better understand why it was that I seemed to always react to the world aggressively. I felt as if I was in a perpetual state of danger, and it appeared to me as if everyone was out to physically hurt me. I quickly discovered that 36 instances of trauma before the age of twenty, beginning at twenty months old, left me with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I learned that I wasn’t crazy. I was damaged, and my internal wounds had a dramatic and dangerous affect on me. The more I learned about trauma, I recognized an irrational mindset that I unknowingly possessed. Trauma researchers seemed unable to accurately describe this mindset, but my lived experience allowed me to understand what they attempted to explain. I was able to explain it, because I possessed it. The more I learned about trauma, I began to understand how to free myself from the narrow confines of what we now call “The Imprisoned Mind.”
My newfound mental salvation allowed me to see the world as it truly was, but I also noticed that I wasn’t alone. The more I spoke with and listened to the stories of those who happened to be experiencing incarceration with me, I began to recognize how prominent a role the imprisoned mind played in leading to our flawed decision making-and ultimately our incarceration. An estimated 75% of people experiencing incarceration are thought to have imprisoned minds. I instantly knew that I had to help the world understand this mindset, but I also tasked myself with finding solutions to help people avoid unknowingly having it.
Our book describes the development, progression, and permanence of the mindset. To demonstrate the irrational mindsets influences, which leads to incarceration, I interviewed and wrote the life stories of six men who had imprisoned minds. Each man was incarcerated with me. Each story allows the reader to experience the individual’s humanity through witnessing the raw and visceral truths of how untreated childhood trauma unknowingly leads one down a path towards incarceration.
It is our hope that our book will not only call attention to this country’s most commonly overlooked problem- trauma- but we hope to inspire transformational change in how our country fails to treat documented cases of childhood trauma. We call attention to the lack of a trauma focused and
informed rehabilitation in our nations prisons to do our part in ensuring that those who reenter society are better off than when they arrived to prison.
It was important for us to speak at Awake’s annual company meeting because they embody our “better than arrival” solution to empowering those who are released from prison. Awake doesn’t only provide gainful employment to ex prisoners. This company provides a social support system to those who are in desperate need of a pro social environment. This company empowers those who
have shed their imprisoned minds by teaching more than just a skill that would ensure financial independence. Awake enables the hopeless by equipping them with tools that ensure their imprisoned minds are conquered. They supply more than just windows and doors. They inspire meaning and purpose to those who are new to physical and mental salvation.
This is why it was such a pleasure for us to be guest speakers at Awake Windows and Doors Company, on the day of our books release. We have shared values and goals. More importantly, we are all doing our part to not simply exist. So thank you Awake windows and Doors customers for supporting vision of a better world.
Sincerely, Erik S. Maloney