“Incels Rebel”: Emerging Subcultures Bring New Challenges to Violence Risk Assessment
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8 Chan mentioned
In April 2019, the federal department Public Safety Canada announced its intention to invest $2 million into researching the incel community – a term which has emerged from an online subculture composed largely of male heterosexuals who consider themselves “involuntary celibates.”
Through this research, Canadian authorities hope to better assess the risk of violence from the incel community and launch intervention campaigns to prevent members of the community from committing public acts of violence. The impetus for this research arose in response to a 2018 incident in which 25-year-old Alek Minassian drove his van into a crowd of people in a Toronto suburb, killing 10. Though Minassian had no prior criminal history, on Facebook, he had previously shared on online reference to the beginning of an “Incel Rebellion,” a post that alerted the department to the growing risk of violence posed by the incel community.
Unpacking the ‘Incel Rebellion’
If the term “incel” sounds familiar, it is likely because its associated online subculture is often cited following a mass attack. After the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, it was revealed that perpetrator Nikolas Cruz praised one of the incel community’s infamous “heroes” (Valentine’s Day, the day of the shooting, is now celebrated on some incel forums). In the same year, Scott Beierle — a self-described incel – shot and killed two women inside a yoga studio in a premediated attack.
Incel is short for “involuntary celibacy,” a term used cheekily by a queer woman in the mid-1990s to detail her own “late blossomed” dating life and perhaps encourage others online to share their own stories. But this etymology does not reflect incel’s current usage and population. Incels — who are nearly entirely men (women are largely barred from their online sites) — are defined by their seething and often violent misogyny rooted in their belief that a “sexual hierarchy” keeps them from finding joy and success with women. Women, in turn, are to be punished for their wickedness in denying incels pleasure – and a “manosphere” must be built in order to ensure male superiority at all times.
It is a central tenet in our Threat and Violence Risk Management practice that those on a potential pathway to violence have no comprehensive profile. Meaning you cannot, based a series of factors – whether those are related to gender, race, socioeconomic background or interests – fit someone into a “profile” of a person who will engage in targeted violence. This is what makes violence risk assessments so nuanced and complex.
However, it would be narrow-minded to ignore that those with associations with historically hateful and violent groups are more inclined to demonstrate concerning behaviors. The incels, who congregate on forum-heavy websites like Reddit and 8chan, are one such group.
(Curious to see if there is anyway this April 2019 article was updated with page edits as of yesterday? I used to know how to look that up…)
https://www.hillardheintze.com/threat-violence-risk-management/incels-rebel-emerging-subcultures-bring-new-challenges-to-violence-risk-assessment/