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Alyssa Tyler editor in chief
David Garlock, a criminal justice reform and domestic abuse advocate was invited to campus on Apr. 22 for three speeches throughout the day. Garlock presented, “How to Dismantle the Trauma to Prison Pipeline.” During this he discussed how untreated and unresolved trauma can create a pathway to violence and repeated encounters with the justice system. Garlock, a formerly incarcerated felon, says his own trauma led to his incarceration, and to his new passion: helping those in and out of the criminal justice system.
Garlock began the discussion by asking the attendees what they thought he was incarcerated for. Garlock said he loves asking this question because of the challenges people to consider stereotypes.
“That’s why I love asking this question, it challenges us to start thinking about our stereotypes,” Garlock said. “Who do we consider or what do we think somebody who would commit a murder looks like, what do we typically think? Somebody that’s black and brown skin, tatted up, and that’s what we think of… you don’t think about me.”
Garlock and his brother both received 25-year life sentences for the murder of their abuser. Garlock spent 13 years in prison and was released on parole in 2013 as a client of the Equal Justice Initiative. Garlock described the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse both he and his brother went through as children.
“You learn about seeing the red and that point where anger, hatred, and that’s what happened,” Garlock said. “All of it built up and we took his life. Four months later they arrested me. I was 20 years old looking at a murder charges, not Alabama, thinking I was going to get the death penalty… We were only charged with murder. So, with that carries 10 years to 99 to life with the possibility parole. We actually ended up with a 25-year plea.”
Garlock pursued multiple education opportunities while incarcerated.
My whole time while I was incarcerated, I told myself I was going to take advantage of the program,” Garlock said.
Garlock discussed the importance of parents having open communication with their children.
“We need them all to know about basics,” Garlock said. “We need to talk about communication. We need to set up a good communication set with the parents and with the child. And then you have to get to the point where the child trusts you, where you get to where the child knows that you, the teacher or the parent, that if they go to you with something like if they were being abused, physical or sexual abuse, that child needs to know (that you will listen).”
Garlock stressed the importance of educational and professional opportunities for those in prison. As well as having mental health services for all inmates.
“We really need these services to start on day one when somebody comes into prison, they need to take the ACEs test,” Garlock said. “They need to find what type of trauma they have endured. Because here’s the thing, when we think about day one is when you can begin the process of healing them, you can find out what type of services they do need.”
Garlock was invited through the following sponsors: Tilford Diversity and Multiculturalism, Psychology and Counseling, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, Wellness Education, History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences, and Students for Violence Prevention.
More information about these groups can be found on Gorilla Engage.
More information about Garlock can be found at the following link: https://www.davidlgarlock.com/