What do you think?
Rate this book
Understanding and Treating Incels: Case Studies, Guidance, and Treatment of Violence Risk in the Involuntary Celibate Community
Understanding and Treating Incels is an indispensable guide for mental health clinical staff, social workers, prevention specialists, educators, and threat assessment professionals who want to better understand the involuntary celibate movement, assess individuals' potential for violence, and offer treatment approaches and prevention efforts.
Chapters explore the movement in terms of gender, technology, the media, and pornography usage. The book discusses how the incel mentality has motivated individuals to misogynistic worldviews and increased rage and disillusionment, and inspired acts of targeted violence such as school shootings and mass casualty events. Later chapters walk the reader through three cases studies and offer treatment considerations to assist mental health professionals and those developing education and prevention-based programming. The complete text gives the reader useful perspectives and insights into incel culture while offering mental health clinicians and educators guidance on treatment and prevention efforts.
Chapters explore the movement in terms of gender, technology, the media, and pornography usage. The book discusses how the incel mentality has motivated individuals to misogynistic worldviews and increased rage and disillusionment, and inspired acts of targeted violence such as school shootings and mass casualty events. Later chapters walk the reader through three cases studies and offer treatment considerations to assist mental health professionals and those developing education and prevention-based programming. The complete text gives the reader useful perspectives and insights into incel culture while offering mental health clinicians and educators guidance on treatment and prevention efforts.
- GenresSociologyPsychology
282 pages, ebook
Published November 29, 2020
4 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Brian Van Brunt
17 books27 followersBrian Van Brunt has worked in the counseling field for more than 20 years, and specializes in educational counseling, behavioral intervention and support, and issues related to mental health and alcohol/substance abuse by students. He is also a prolific writer, having authored numerous books, book chapters, and articles. He has additionally produced various assessment instruments, video training materials, and is a blogger and photographer during his spare time.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 21, 2021
This is a fascinating and surprising study of Incels. There is attention to theories of masculinity and misogyny. I would have appreciated greater attention on the contexts and histories that summon threatened masculinities, and how injustice and inequality are masked through racism, sexism and transphobia.
It was intriguing to watch how violent men are 'treated'. It is stunning how sexism is the 'gateway drug' for racism and community-based violence.
Provocative and well written book.
It was intriguing to watch how violent men are 'treated'. It is stunning how sexism is the 'gateway drug' for racism and community-based violence.
Provocative and well written book.
October 18, 2025
Apabila filem "Adolescence" ditayangkan di Netflix awal tahun ini, ramai mengkagumi sinematografinya yang rapi dan juga lakonan handal oleh pelakon ciliknya. Di sebalik kekaguman kita, plot dan mesej Utama dalam filem tersebut kelihatan jauh lagi kedengaran sayup daripada negara kita.
Mungkin tidak ramai mengetahui bahawa keganasan oleh sebilangan golongan remaja yang memanggil diri mereka sebagai "incel" atau "involuntary celibate" (pembujangan tidak rela, menggambarkan keresahan mereka dalam kegagalan meraih perhubungan berlainan jantina) telahpun berlaku secara terpencil tetapi mengejutkan. Antara keganasan "proto-incel" yang terawal berlaku adalah oleh seorang pemuda Jepun yang bernama Mutsuo Toi yang terlibat dalam Serangan Tsuyama (津山事件, Tsuyama jiken) pada tahun 1938. Mutsuo telah menamatkan nyawa seramai 30 orang warga kampungnya, iaitu hampr separuh daripada keseluruhan warga kampungnya (!) kerana marah ajakan seksualnya ditolak oleh gadis-gadis kampung.
Saya akan mengehadkan menyebut nama-nama kejadian atau pelaku jenayah "incel", kerana percaya atau tidak, pelaku-pelaku ini diraikan sebagai "wali" atau "Saint" oleh golongan "incel" di alam maya. Contohnya, Saint Minassian (Toronto Van Killings) atau Saint Elliott (Isla Vista). Contoh di atas hanya sekadar memberikan latar belakang kepada keganasan yang dilakukan oleh sebuah golongan yang khusus ini.
Golongan "incel", secara tuntasnya, merujuk kepada segolongan remaja lelaki (dan juga Wanita) yang merasakan begitu sempit dan terdesak kerana tidak mampu menandingi kriteria dan fantasi jejaka maskulin yang ditonjolkan melalui ajaran "manosphere" yang semakin popular, sehingga mereka merasakan mungkin hanya melalui keagresifan sahaja-lah yang akan membuktikan kejantanan mereka.
Buku "Understanding and Treating Incels: Case Studies, Guidance and Treatment of Violence Risk in the Involuntary Celibate Community" yang ditulis oleh Brian Van Brunt dan Chris Taylor, bukanlah sebuah buku yang enak dibaca. Tetapi ia menggambarkan realiti pedih bagaimana pandang alam segolongan pemuda pemudi telah diputar dengan begitu dahsyat sekali. Saya fikir, hanya buku yang menyelidiki pemb*n*h bersiri yang ditulis oleh Kessler, Burgess & Douglass sahaja yang menandingi perasaan kurang enak dalam membaca buku tentang golongan "incel" ini.
Van Brunt & Taylor menggambarkan budaya "incel" sebagai sebuah budaya yang berteraskan sudut pandang Barat. Tetapi, bagi saya kedesakan golongan pemuda adalah sebuah fenomena yang universal yang dicetuskan oleh proses represi dan supresi yang boleh berlaku kepada semua orang, tanpa mengira budaya dan bangsa.
Van Brunt & Taylor juga mencadangkan budaya "incel" bermula sebagai sebuah hasil akhir (end-product) daripada sebuah masyarakat yang patriarkal (patriarchal society). Tetapi, bagi saya, budaya "incel" ini merupakan sebuah imbang-balas (overcompensation) bukanna daripada kebudayaan patriarkal yang tinggi, tetapi sebagai sebuah reaksi kepada nilai kelelakian yang makin merudum.
Anthony Haidt dalam bukunya "The Anxious Generation", dalam sebuah bab yang bertajuk "What is Happening to Boys?", berpendapat bahawa dunia pasca-Peperangan Dunia Kedua telah beralih kepada sektor industri yang lebih bersifat automatik, membuatkan anak-anak lelaki terpaksa menumpu ke dalam sektor servis yang dikuasai kebanyakannya oleh golongan wanita. Anak-anak lelaki akan melalui sebuah sistem pendidikan, yang walaupun memberi pendedahan akademik yang baik, tidak membantu secara langsung dalam pembentukan nilai-nilai khusus yang diperlukan oleh seorang lelaki. Anak-anak wanita setelah menamatkan persekolahan menengah akan mempunyai set-set skill yang jauh terkedepan dengan wanita seumurnya beberapa generasi terdahulu, tetapi anak-anak lelaki kita pula tidak akan mempunyai skil-skil seperti kepimpinan, kemahiran vokasional dan nilai-nilai murni yang lain yang disebut sebagai "futuwwah"- yang dipunyai oleh ayah dan atuknya dahulu. Haidt memanggil analisisnya sebagai daya "tolak dan tarik"- dunia menjadi semakin kurang diperuntukkan kepada golongan anak-anak lelaki (tolak) dan terdapat perkara negatif seperti media sosial, pornografi dan sebagainya yang (menarik) diri mereka jauh dari dunia sebenar.
Penurunan nilai-nilai khusus maskulin dalam kalangan anak-anak lelaki akan mencetuskan proses imbang-balas (compensation) secara kolektif. Maka, terbitlah sebuah konsep yang mengambil kesempatan dengan kelemahan nilai maskulin pada zaman moden: nilai maskulin hegemonik (hegemonic masculinity). Maskuliniti hegemonik merupakan sebuah set nilai yang dicanangkan oleh sekumpulan "pakar" yang mendakwa memegang kunci kesejahteraan yang patut dimiliki oleh kesemua orang lelaki: yang selalunya dikaitkan dengan kemampuan untuk meraih hubungan seksual. Mereka juga selalunya memperagakan standard kehidupan maskulin yang jauh daripada realistik tetapi digembar-gemburkan untuk mendapatkan ilusi optikal yang menawan.
Golongan pemuda yang tidak dapat menandingi nilai maskulin hegemonik ini, seterusnya akan berdepan dengan kerungsingan identity maskulin (masculine identity stress) yang akan ditemani dengan pelbagai emosi yang merungsingkan seperti kebencian terhadap wanita (misogyny), keresahan seksual, kepencilan, kemarahan, kebencian dan akhirnya membentuk fantasi-fantasi tentang daya agresif dan penaklukan yang difikirkan sebagai satu-satunya cara untuk menyalurkan rasa rendah diri yang terpendam.
Maka, akan lahirlah segolongan pemuda pemudi yang mempunyai nilai maskulin toksik (toxic masculinity) sebagai respon imbang-balas terhadap ketidakmampuan mereka dalam menggapai nilai maskulin hegemonik itu. Nilai maskulin toksik boleh digambarkan sebagai nilai bertiga "incel" (the incel pyramid)- iaitu kebencian terhadap Wanita (misogyny), kecemburuan (jealousy) dan rasa berhak (entitlement). "Aku cemburu dengan Chad (terma digunakan untuk lelaki maskulin)", "Aku benci Wanita yang hanya inginkan Chad", "Aku berhak ke atas Wanita yang dicuti Chad": nilai bertiga "incel" ini adalah seperti oksigen, haba dan bahan api untuk mencetuskan bara.
Tetapi tidak semua "incel" akan berakhir dengan keganasan. Kecenderungan nilai "incel", menurut De Coensel (2018) akan melalui beberapa tapisan atau "funnel", sebelum seseorang "incel" itu akan melaksanakan fantasi keganasannya. De Coensel telah menghimpunkan 28 model berbeza dalam kajian "insel" dan merumuskan beberapa peringkat: (i) pre-radikalisasi, (ii) kesedaran dan kegelisahan, (iii) pencarian solusi, (iv) minat, (v) penumpuan, (vi) pendoktrinan, (vii) implementasi dan (viii) pasca-implementasi. Setiap peringkat ini membawa potensi untuk pembentukan intervensi yang khusus.
Van Brunt & Taylor, seterusnya telah mereka sebuah kaji selidik untuk menolong petugas kesihatan mental (dan juga pihak berkuasa) untuk memahami tahap kedalaman seseorang pemuda-pemudi itu dalam doktrin "incel". Penyelidik berdua ini telah merangka Incel Indoctrination Rubric (IIR) yang terdiri daripada 20 jenis item setelah mengkaji 50 buah kes keganasan "incel" seperti kes p*n*mb*kan rambang dan sebagainya.
Dua puluh item tersebut adalah: (1) kebencian terhadap Wanita (misogyny), (2) sifat perkauman (racism) , (3) "blackpill" (fahaman bahawa semua Wanita akan mencari lelaki maskulin hegemonik", (4) imej-diri tidak tepat (inaccurate self-conception), (5) dahagakan kemahsyuran (fame-seeking), (6) daya amuk (rage), (7) keberputusasaan (hopelessness), (8) pengalaman buruk (catastrophe), (9) ketidakupayaan (mental, fizikal dsb) (disability), (10) pemencilan (abandonment), (11) tingkah laku terdesak (approach behavior), (12) "howling" (tingkah laku mengancam- selalunya di media sosial atau beramai-ramai), (13) perasaan b*n*h diri (suicidality), (14) pengetahuan tentang keganasan "incel" terdahulu (past attacks), (15) "redpill" (tingkah laku terdesak bahawa dengan kekayaan, ketampanan dan kekuatan akan menjadi berhak ke atas wanita), (16) kefahaman dalam falsafah "incel" (incel materials), (17) penolakan (rejection), (18) pengalaman dibuli (bullied), (19) kegagalan dalam mengubah diri (failure to change) dan (20) pengalaman hidup yang terus menerus mengecewakan (free-fall)
Memahami tahap kedalaman seseorang "incel" itu merupakan Langkah pertama dalam merawat mereka. Langkah seterusnya adalah mengenalpasti risiko keganasan melalui beberapa kaji selidik yang disahihkan seperti SIVRA-35, dan seterusnya mengenalpasti daya-daya penstabilan.
Pada akhir buku, Van Brunt & Taylor telah memberikan beberapa cadangan pelan rawatan untuk golongan "incel" yang kebanyakannya menggunakan elemen psikoterapi yang semestinya mengambil masa dan sumber yang banyak. Budaya "incel" tidak patut dipandang sebagai sebuah budaya Barat, tetapi berdasarkan model ini, ia muncul sebagai kehilangan secara universal akan nilai maskulin yang sebenar, yang selalunya ditermakan sebagai futuwwah, bushidō, junzi, ubuntu, chivalry dan sebagainya.
Mencegah lebih baik daripada merawat, bukan?
____________
When the film Adolescence premiered on Netflix earlier this year, many viewers admired its precise cinematography and the impressive performance of its young lead actor. Yet, beneath our admiration, the plot and core message of the film seem distant and faint from our local reality.
Perhaps not many are aware that acts of violence committed by a small group of young men calling themselves “incels” — short for involuntary celibates (those who experience deep frustration over their inability to form heterosexual relationships) — have already occurred sporadically, though shockingly, across the world. One of the earliest “proto-incel” attacks was committed by a Japanese man named Mutsuo Toi, who carried out the Tsuyama Massacre (津山事件, Tsuyama jiken) in 1938. Mutsuo killed 30 people, nearly half of his entire village (!) after his sexual advances were rejected by local women.
I will refrain from naming further incidents or perpetrators of “incel” violence, as — believe it or not — these individuals are often glorified as “saints” or “martyrs” by online incel communities: “Saint Minassian” (Toronto van killings) or “Saint Elliott” (Isla Vista). These examples serve only to provide a backdrop to the type of violence committed by this particular subculture.
The “incel” community, broadly speaking, consists of young men (and sometimes women) who feel trapped and desperate because they cannot meet the criteria or ideals of masculinity promoted by the increasingly popular “manosphere.” Many of them come to believe that only through aggression can they assert their manhood.
The book Understanding and Treating Incels: Case Studies, Guidance and Treatment of Violence Risk in the Involuntary Celibate Community by Brian Van Brunt and Chris Taylor is not an easy read. Yet it starkly portrays the painful reality of how a generation’s worldview can be so thoroughly distorted. I can only compare its unease to reading the works of Kessler, Burgess, and Douglas on serial killers.
Van Brunt and Taylor describe incel culture as a product of Western society. However, I believe that the desperation of young men is a universal phenomenon, born from repression and suppression that can occur in any culture or ethnicity.
Van Brunt and Taylor also argue that incel culture emerges as an end-product of patriarchal societies. Yet to me, incel culture represents not the excess of patriarchy, but rather an overcompensation: a reaction to the erosion of masculine values.
In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, in a chapter titled “What is Happening to Boys?”, argues that the post–World War II world shifted toward automated industries, forcing boys into service sectors largely dominated by women. While modern education provides solid academic exposure, it fails to cultivate the distinctive values necessary for manhood. Today’s young women graduate with skills far beyond those of previous generations, but today’s young men often lack leadership, vocational aptitude, and the moral values once embodied by their fathers and grandfathers; what older traditions called futuwwah.
Haidt describes this as a “push and pull” dynamic: the world has become less accommodating to boys (push), while negative influences such as social media and pornography (pull) draw them further away from reality.
As traditional masculine values decline, a collective compensatory process emerges. From this vacuum arises hegemonic masculinity: a set of ideals promoted by self-proclaimed “experts” who claim to hold the key to true manhood, often equating it with sexual conquest. These ideals are unrealistic yet glamorized to create a seductive illusion.
Young men unable to live up to these hegemonic standards experience masculine identity stress, accompanied by distressing emotions such as misogyny, sexual frustration, isolation, anger, hatred, and the fantasy of aggression and domination, imagined as the only way to express their suppressed inferiority.
Thus, some young men and women develop toxic masculinity as a compensatory response to their failure to embody hegemonic masculinity. Toxic masculinity can be visualized as the “incel triangle” — misogyny, jealousy, and entitlement. “I’m jealous of Chad” (the incel term for the ideal masculine man). “I hate women who only want Chads.” “I’m entitled to the women desired by Chads.” This incel triangle functions like oxygen, heat, and fuel — the three elements that ignite a flame.
However, not all incels end up violent. According to De Coensel (2018), incel tendencies pass through several “funnels” or stages before one acts on violent fantasies. Reviewing 28 models of incel radicalization, De Coensel identified several phases: (i) pre-radicalization, (ii) awareness and anxiety, (iii) search for solutions, (iv) interest, (v) focus, (vi) indoctrination, (vii) implementation, and (viii) post-implementation. Each stage presents potential points for targeted intervention.
Van Brunt and Taylor subsequently designed a survey tool to help mental health professionals (and law enforcement) assess how deeply an individual is immersed in incel ideology. They developed the Incel Indoctrination Rubric (IIR): a 20-item measure based on 50 cases of incel-related violence, including mass killings.
Understanding how deeply one is indoctrinated into incel ideology is the first step toward treatment. The next step involves assessing the risk of violence using validated tools such as SIVRA-35, followed by identifying stabilizing protective factors.
At the end of their book, Van Brunt and Taylor propose several treatment plans for incels, most of which rely on psychotherapy — a process that demands considerable time and resources.
Incel culture should not be viewed merely as a Western phenomenon. Based on this model, it represents a universal loss of authentic masculine values — what older traditions once called futuwwah, bushidō, junzi, ubuntu, chivalry, and others.
Mungkin tidak ramai mengetahui bahawa keganasan oleh sebilangan golongan remaja yang memanggil diri mereka sebagai "incel" atau "involuntary celibate" (pembujangan tidak rela, menggambarkan keresahan mereka dalam kegagalan meraih perhubungan berlainan jantina) telahpun berlaku secara terpencil tetapi mengejutkan. Antara keganasan "proto-incel" yang terawal berlaku adalah oleh seorang pemuda Jepun yang bernama Mutsuo Toi yang terlibat dalam Serangan Tsuyama (津山事件, Tsuyama jiken) pada tahun 1938. Mutsuo telah menamatkan nyawa seramai 30 orang warga kampungnya, iaitu hampr separuh daripada keseluruhan warga kampungnya (!) kerana marah ajakan seksualnya ditolak oleh gadis-gadis kampung.
Saya akan mengehadkan menyebut nama-nama kejadian atau pelaku jenayah "incel", kerana percaya atau tidak, pelaku-pelaku ini diraikan sebagai "wali" atau "Saint" oleh golongan "incel" di alam maya. Contohnya, Saint Minassian (Toronto Van Killings) atau Saint Elliott (Isla Vista). Contoh di atas hanya sekadar memberikan latar belakang kepada keganasan yang dilakukan oleh sebuah golongan yang khusus ini.
Golongan "incel", secara tuntasnya, merujuk kepada segolongan remaja lelaki (dan juga Wanita) yang merasakan begitu sempit dan terdesak kerana tidak mampu menandingi kriteria dan fantasi jejaka maskulin yang ditonjolkan melalui ajaran "manosphere" yang semakin popular, sehingga mereka merasakan mungkin hanya melalui keagresifan sahaja-lah yang akan membuktikan kejantanan mereka.
Buku "Understanding and Treating Incels: Case Studies, Guidance and Treatment of Violence Risk in the Involuntary Celibate Community" yang ditulis oleh Brian Van Brunt dan Chris Taylor, bukanlah sebuah buku yang enak dibaca. Tetapi ia menggambarkan realiti pedih bagaimana pandang alam segolongan pemuda pemudi telah diputar dengan begitu dahsyat sekali. Saya fikir, hanya buku yang menyelidiki pemb*n*h bersiri yang ditulis oleh Kessler, Burgess & Douglass sahaja yang menandingi perasaan kurang enak dalam membaca buku tentang golongan "incel" ini.
Van Brunt & Taylor menggambarkan budaya "incel" sebagai sebuah budaya yang berteraskan sudut pandang Barat. Tetapi, bagi saya kedesakan golongan pemuda adalah sebuah fenomena yang universal yang dicetuskan oleh proses represi dan supresi yang boleh berlaku kepada semua orang, tanpa mengira budaya dan bangsa.
Van Brunt & Taylor juga mencadangkan budaya "incel" bermula sebagai sebuah hasil akhir (end-product) daripada sebuah masyarakat yang patriarkal (patriarchal society). Tetapi, bagi saya, budaya "incel" ini merupakan sebuah imbang-balas (overcompensation) bukanna daripada kebudayaan patriarkal yang tinggi, tetapi sebagai sebuah reaksi kepada nilai kelelakian yang makin merudum.
Anthony Haidt dalam bukunya "The Anxious Generation", dalam sebuah bab yang bertajuk "What is Happening to Boys?", berpendapat bahawa dunia pasca-Peperangan Dunia Kedua telah beralih kepada sektor industri yang lebih bersifat automatik, membuatkan anak-anak lelaki terpaksa menumpu ke dalam sektor servis yang dikuasai kebanyakannya oleh golongan wanita. Anak-anak lelaki akan melalui sebuah sistem pendidikan, yang walaupun memberi pendedahan akademik yang baik, tidak membantu secara langsung dalam pembentukan nilai-nilai khusus yang diperlukan oleh seorang lelaki. Anak-anak wanita setelah menamatkan persekolahan menengah akan mempunyai set-set skill yang jauh terkedepan dengan wanita seumurnya beberapa generasi terdahulu, tetapi anak-anak lelaki kita pula tidak akan mempunyai skil-skil seperti kepimpinan, kemahiran vokasional dan nilai-nilai murni yang lain yang disebut sebagai "futuwwah"- yang dipunyai oleh ayah dan atuknya dahulu. Haidt memanggil analisisnya sebagai daya "tolak dan tarik"- dunia menjadi semakin kurang diperuntukkan kepada golongan anak-anak lelaki (tolak) dan terdapat perkara negatif seperti media sosial, pornografi dan sebagainya yang (menarik) diri mereka jauh dari dunia sebenar.
Penurunan nilai-nilai khusus maskulin dalam kalangan anak-anak lelaki akan mencetuskan proses imbang-balas (compensation) secara kolektif. Maka, terbitlah sebuah konsep yang mengambil kesempatan dengan kelemahan nilai maskulin pada zaman moden: nilai maskulin hegemonik (hegemonic masculinity). Maskuliniti hegemonik merupakan sebuah set nilai yang dicanangkan oleh sekumpulan "pakar" yang mendakwa memegang kunci kesejahteraan yang patut dimiliki oleh kesemua orang lelaki: yang selalunya dikaitkan dengan kemampuan untuk meraih hubungan seksual. Mereka juga selalunya memperagakan standard kehidupan maskulin yang jauh daripada realistik tetapi digembar-gemburkan untuk mendapatkan ilusi optikal yang menawan.
Golongan pemuda yang tidak dapat menandingi nilai maskulin hegemonik ini, seterusnya akan berdepan dengan kerungsingan identity maskulin (masculine identity stress) yang akan ditemani dengan pelbagai emosi yang merungsingkan seperti kebencian terhadap wanita (misogyny), keresahan seksual, kepencilan, kemarahan, kebencian dan akhirnya membentuk fantasi-fantasi tentang daya agresif dan penaklukan yang difikirkan sebagai satu-satunya cara untuk menyalurkan rasa rendah diri yang terpendam.
Maka, akan lahirlah segolongan pemuda pemudi yang mempunyai nilai maskulin toksik (toxic masculinity) sebagai respon imbang-balas terhadap ketidakmampuan mereka dalam menggapai nilai maskulin hegemonik itu. Nilai maskulin toksik boleh digambarkan sebagai nilai bertiga "incel" (the incel pyramid)- iaitu kebencian terhadap Wanita (misogyny), kecemburuan (jealousy) dan rasa berhak (entitlement). "Aku cemburu dengan Chad (terma digunakan untuk lelaki maskulin)", "Aku benci Wanita yang hanya inginkan Chad", "Aku berhak ke atas Wanita yang dicuti Chad": nilai bertiga "incel" ini adalah seperti oksigen, haba dan bahan api untuk mencetuskan bara.
Tetapi tidak semua "incel" akan berakhir dengan keganasan. Kecenderungan nilai "incel", menurut De Coensel (2018) akan melalui beberapa tapisan atau "funnel", sebelum seseorang "incel" itu akan melaksanakan fantasi keganasannya. De Coensel telah menghimpunkan 28 model berbeza dalam kajian "insel" dan merumuskan beberapa peringkat: (i) pre-radikalisasi, (ii) kesedaran dan kegelisahan, (iii) pencarian solusi, (iv) minat, (v) penumpuan, (vi) pendoktrinan, (vii) implementasi dan (viii) pasca-implementasi. Setiap peringkat ini membawa potensi untuk pembentukan intervensi yang khusus.
Van Brunt & Taylor, seterusnya telah mereka sebuah kaji selidik untuk menolong petugas kesihatan mental (dan juga pihak berkuasa) untuk memahami tahap kedalaman seseorang pemuda-pemudi itu dalam doktrin "incel". Penyelidik berdua ini telah merangka Incel Indoctrination Rubric (IIR) yang terdiri daripada 20 jenis item setelah mengkaji 50 buah kes keganasan "incel" seperti kes p*n*mb*kan rambang dan sebagainya.
Dua puluh item tersebut adalah: (1) kebencian terhadap Wanita (misogyny), (2) sifat perkauman (racism) , (3) "blackpill" (fahaman bahawa semua Wanita akan mencari lelaki maskulin hegemonik", (4) imej-diri tidak tepat (inaccurate self-conception), (5) dahagakan kemahsyuran (fame-seeking), (6) daya amuk (rage), (7) keberputusasaan (hopelessness), (8) pengalaman buruk (catastrophe), (9) ketidakupayaan (mental, fizikal dsb) (disability), (10) pemencilan (abandonment), (11) tingkah laku terdesak (approach behavior), (12) "howling" (tingkah laku mengancam- selalunya di media sosial atau beramai-ramai), (13) perasaan b*n*h diri (suicidality), (14) pengetahuan tentang keganasan "incel" terdahulu (past attacks), (15) "redpill" (tingkah laku terdesak bahawa dengan kekayaan, ketampanan dan kekuatan akan menjadi berhak ke atas wanita), (16) kefahaman dalam falsafah "incel" (incel materials), (17) penolakan (rejection), (18) pengalaman dibuli (bullied), (19) kegagalan dalam mengubah diri (failure to change) dan (20) pengalaman hidup yang terus menerus mengecewakan (free-fall)
Memahami tahap kedalaman seseorang "incel" itu merupakan Langkah pertama dalam merawat mereka. Langkah seterusnya adalah mengenalpasti risiko keganasan melalui beberapa kaji selidik yang disahihkan seperti SIVRA-35, dan seterusnya mengenalpasti daya-daya penstabilan.
Pada akhir buku, Van Brunt & Taylor telah memberikan beberapa cadangan pelan rawatan untuk golongan "incel" yang kebanyakannya menggunakan elemen psikoterapi yang semestinya mengambil masa dan sumber yang banyak. Budaya "incel" tidak patut dipandang sebagai sebuah budaya Barat, tetapi berdasarkan model ini, ia muncul sebagai kehilangan secara universal akan nilai maskulin yang sebenar, yang selalunya ditermakan sebagai futuwwah, bushidō, junzi, ubuntu, chivalry dan sebagainya.
Mencegah lebih baik daripada merawat, bukan?
____________
When the film Adolescence premiered on Netflix earlier this year, many viewers admired its precise cinematography and the impressive performance of its young lead actor. Yet, beneath our admiration, the plot and core message of the film seem distant and faint from our local reality.
Perhaps not many are aware that acts of violence committed by a small group of young men calling themselves “incels” — short for involuntary celibates (those who experience deep frustration over their inability to form heterosexual relationships) — have already occurred sporadically, though shockingly, across the world. One of the earliest “proto-incel” attacks was committed by a Japanese man named Mutsuo Toi, who carried out the Tsuyama Massacre (津山事件, Tsuyama jiken) in 1938. Mutsuo killed 30 people, nearly half of his entire village (!) after his sexual advances were rejected by local women.
I will refrain from naming further incidents or perpetrators of “incel” violence, as — believe it or not — these individuals are often glorified as “saints” or “martyrs” by online incel communities: “Saint Minassian” (Toronto van killings) or “Saint Elliott” (Isla Vista). These examples serve only to provide a backdrop to the type of violence committed by this particular subculture.
The “incel” community, broadly speaking, consists of young men (and sometimes women) who feel trapped and desperate because they cannot meet the criteria or ideals of masculinity promoted by the increasingly popular “manosphere.” Many of them come to believe that only through aggression can they assert their manhood.
The book Understanding and Treating Incels: Case Studies, Guidance and Treatment of Violence Risk in the Involuntary Celibate Community by Brian Van Brunt and Chris Taylor is not an easy read. Yet it starkly portrays the painful reality of how a generation’s worldview can be so thoroughly distorted. I can only compare its unease to reading the works of Kessler, Burgess, and Douglas on serial killers.
Van Brunt and Taylor describe incel culture as a product of Western society. However, I believe that the desperation of young men is a universal phenomenon, born from repression and suppression that can occur in any culture or ethnicity.
Van Brunt and Taylor also argue that incel culture emerges as an end-product of patriarchal societies. Yet to me, incel culture represents not the excess of patriarchy, but rather an overcompensation: a reaction to the erosion of masculine values.
In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, in a chapter titled “What is Happening to Boys?”, argues that the post–World War II world shifted toward automated industries, forcing boys into service sectors largely dominated by women. While modern education provides solid academic exposure, it fails to cultivate the distinctive values necessary for manhood. Today’s young women graduate with skills far beyond those of previous generations, but today’s young men often lack leadership, vocational aptitude, and the moral values once embodied by their fathers and grandfathers; what older traditions called futuwwah.
Haidt describes this as a “push and pull” dynamic: the world has become less accommodating to boys (push), while negative influences such as social media and pornography (pull) draw them further away from reality.
As traditional masculine values decline, a collective compensatory process emerges. From this vacuum arises hegemonic masculinity: a set of ideals promoted by self-proclaimed “experts” who claim to hold the key to true manhood, often equating it with sexual conquest. These ideals are unrealistic yet glamorized to create a seductive illusion.
Young men unable to live up to these hegemonic standards experience masculine identity stress, accompanied by distressing emotions such as misogyny, sexual frustration, isolation, anger, hatred, and the fantasy of aggression and domination, imagined as the only way to express their suppressed inferiority.
Thus, some young men and women develop toxic masculinity as a compensatory response to their failure to embody hegemonic masculinity. Toxic masculinity can be visualized as the “incel triangle” — misogyny, jealousy, and entitlement. “I’m jealous of Chad” (the incel term for the ideal masculine man). “I hate women who only want Chads.” “I’m entitled to the women desired by Chads.” This incel triangle functions like oxygen, heat, and fuel — the three elements that ignite a flame.
However, not all incels end up violent. According to De Coensel (2018), incel tendencies pass through several “funnels” or stages before one acts on violent fantasies. Reviewing 28 models of incel radicalization, De Coensel identified several phases: (i) pre-radicalization, (ii) awareness and anxiety, (iii) search for solutions, (iv) interest, (v) focus, (vi) indoctrination, (vii) implementation, and (viii) post-implementation. Each stage presents potential points for targeted intervention.
Van Brunt and Taylor subsequently designed a survey tool to help mental health professionals (and law enforcement) assess how deeply an individual is immersed in incel ideology. They developed the Incel Indoctrination Rubric (IIR): a 20-item measure based on 50 cases of incel-related violence, including mass killings.
Understanding how deeply one is indoctrinated into incel ideology is the first step toward treatment. The next step involves assessing the risk of violence using validated tools such as SIVRA-35, followed by identifying stabilizing protective factors.
At the end of their book, Van Brunt and Taylor propose several treatment plans for incels, most of which rely on psychotherapy — a process that demands considerable time and resources.
Incel culture should not be viewed merely as a Western phenomenon. Based on this model, it represents a universal loss of authentic masculine values — what older traditions once called futuwwah, bushidō, junzi, ubuntu, chivalry, and others.
June 19, 2022
The book starts out by repeating false stereotypes about men that were invented by the feminist movement and the media to demean and disparage men.
Trustworthy sources show a number of scientific facts: (1) INCELs are no more likely to be violent than women (especially since women commit three times as many child murders as men); and (2) Almost all male incels (there are many female INCELS) display classic symptoms of having been raped or molested by a woman when they were children. Female Sexual Abuse of Children
The book is not for serious professionals. It is simply gender politics supporting a hateful polemic against men.
Trustworthy sources show a number of scientific facts: (1) INCELs are no more likely to be violent than women (especially since women commit three times as many child murders as men); and (2) Almost all male incels (there are many female INCELS) display classic symptoms of having been raped or molested by a woman when they were children. Female Sexual Abuse of Children
The book is not for serious professionals. It is simply gender politics supporting a hateful polemic against men.
March 26, 2025
I guess its for somebody that is well trained in CBT or perhaps psychodynamic treatment but lacks any kind of background information on the cultural influences behind incels (and his main concern is those that became violent or shooters). Huge part of the book is reprinting various background information (comments from social media or manifestos etc). Another part is very generic references on how to use some ideas narrative therapy or existentialist therapies or motivational interviewing in treatment.
[The MI section is based on an extremely outdated version of MI that may cause confusion if you also look at current MI literature.]
I guess what the book is is helpful for the specialist reader. Just feel like it could be more specific and it's going too much for a low hanging fruit. Then again, I am not in a US school context either and not the best judge for that.
[The MI section is based on an extremely outdated version of MI that may cause confusion if you also look at current MI literature.]
I guess what the book is is helpful for the specialist reader. Just feel like it could be more specific and it's going too much for a low hanging fruit. Then again, I am not in a US school context either and not the best judge for that.
March 28, 2024
Another crappy text that disseminates a men-hating propaganda. Based on the growing number of published material about incels, I believe that men are the new Jews for the new fascists to hate. The fascists have been always picking on those who were most vulnerable and who lacked the crowd support. In the past, their victims were Jews and Blacks, now it is men and Russians whom the fascists hate from their guts. This book represents a materialization of the thousand-year-old intolerance that always seeks new targets for its hate. It does not hesitate to abuse the mass stupidity that plagues the present-day society, and it readily supports its hatred by this type of pseudoscience. This is the same pseudoscience that has been used to justify racism and antisemitism in the past, and it is now being used to support misandry.
January 11, 2024
I dont usually write reviews but having read this book out of curiosity and seeing the (fairly nutty) responses to it on here I feel the need to actually give a good rundown of the book for those curious.
Ill open this by saying that the target audience for this book is counselors, social workers, and therapists rather than the "incels" themselves. I am not a therapist merely a curious reader so I cannot speak towards the effectiveness of treatment within this book.
The book is a fairly cursory reading of the "incel" movement focusing on intervention towards potentially violent "incels". This seems to be the author Brian Van Brunt's area of interest (which should be noted is a very noble vocation) but it leads towards an understanding of "incels" that feels incomplete. While Brunt provides a significant amount of first hand documentary sources that show the movement is no stranger to violence, what sets “incels” apart from other hate movements is that the person "incels" are most likely to harm is themselves.
The books pithy summary of "incel" ideology goes:
This is an excellent summation but one that points towards a major gap in the authors understanding the "incel" ideology. It makes absolutely no mention of the influence of "evolutionary psychology" as providing a "factual" basis for the hard biological determinism of "incels". After all the idea that female sexual selection of biological traits determines reproduction is a cornerstone of Darwin's thought (in no small part influenced by Schopenhauer whom many "incels" cite as a precursor). Instead the author treats "incel" ideology as a self-contained system wherein a potential "incel" jumps from rejection and alienation to world of absurd vocabulary (as a sampler: Clowncel: identifies with and admires admires the Joker from Batman). What is missed is that the immersion into this worldview is far more gradual and "scientific" than the author realizes.
In keeping with this the author places culture as largely to blame for the rise of "incels". Pornography, negative religious influences, technology, and Hegemonic Masculinity all play a part in radicalizing the "incel". These are all fine points however a fuller picture could have drawn in economic and sociological factors such as the effect of population imbalances predicating "incel" behavior.
The next couple of sections focus on diagnostics for determining how deep a patient is into "incel" ideology and if they pose a potential risk. I cannot speak for the quality and effectiveness of these diagnostics as a layman.
The chapter focused on treatment is rather strange, simply because the approach seems focused on existential psychology rather than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Once again as a layman I cant speak to the effectiveness of either and I am certain Brunt has had success with this approach, but I was under the impression CBT was the standard treatment model almost across the board. If it works it works however. I found the narrative therapy section pretty fascinating here.
The book finishes off with some case studies, a comprehensive survey of historical "incel" violence, and some primary source excerpts from infamous "incel" killers.
If someone is interested in "incels" this serves as a fairly good if limited introduction. As a sourcebook for college papers its pretty useful and its good to have this information out there for those who deal with people on the edge. As casual reading its more of a curiouso than anything substantive. Id imagine this topic will receive more academic attention as time goes on and I think a more thorough and comprehensive book on the subject is waiting to be written. Id be curious to see reviews from people with more knowledge of therapy and intervention than I have.
Ill open this by saying that the target audience for this book is counselors, social workers, and therapists rather than the "incels" themselves. I am not a therapist merely a curious reader so I cannot speak towards the effectiveness of treatment within this book.
The book is a fairly cursory reading of the "incel" movement focusing on intervention towards potentially violent "incels". This seems to be the author Brian Van Brunt's area of interest (which should be noted is a very noble vocation) but it leads towards an understanding of "incels" that feels incomplete. While Brunt provides a significant amount of first hand documentary sources that show the movement is no stranger to violence, what sets “incels” apart from other hate movements is that the person "incels" are most likely to harm is themselves.
The books pithy summary of "incel" ideology goes:
The involuntary celibate (incel) philosophy is one where males believe the genetic, biological factors that impact our bone structure, height, physical, or mental abilities, weight, eye, and skin color and physical appearence are pre-determined and the are the main factor dictating what women find attractive in men.
This is an excellent summation but one that points towards a major gap in the authors understanding the "incel" ideology. It makes absolutely no mention of the influence of "evolutionary psychology" as providing a "factual" basis for the hard biological determinism of "incels". After all the idea that female sexual selection of biological traits determines reproduction is a cornerstone of Darwin's thought (in no small part influenced by Schopenhauer whom many "incels" cite as a precursor). Instead the author treats "incel" ideology as a self-contained system wherein a potential "incel" jumps from rejection and alienation to world of absurd vocabulary (as a sampler: Clowncel: identifies with and admires admires the Joker from Batman). What is missed is that the immersion into this worldview is far more gradual and "scientific" than the author realizes.
In keeping with this the author places culture as largely to blame for the rise of "incels". Pornography, negative religious influences, technology, and Hegemonic Masculinity all play a part in radicalizing the "incel". These are all fine points however a fuller picture could have drawn in economic and sociological factors such as the effect of population imbalances predicating "incel" behavior.
The next couple of sections focus on diagnostics for determining how deep a patient is into "incel" ideology and if they pose a potential risk. I cannot speak for the quality and effectiveness of these diagnostics as a layman.
The chapter focused on treatment is rather strange, simply because the approach seems focused on existential psychology rather than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Once again as a layman I cant speak to the effectiveness of either and I am certain Brunt has had success with this approach, but I was under the impression CBT was the standard treatment model almost across the board. If it works it works however. I found the narrative therapy section pretty fascinating here.
The book finishes off with some case studies, a comprehensive survey of historical "incel" violence, and some primary source excerpts from infamous "incel" killers.
If someone is interested in "incels" this serves as a fairly good if limited introduction. As a sourcebook for college papers its pretty useful and its good to have this information out there for those who deal with people on the edge. As casual reading its more of a curiouso than anything substantive. Id imagine this topic will receive more academic attention as time goes on and I think a more thorough and comprehensive book on the subject is waiting to be written. Id be curious to see reviews from people with more knowledge of therapy and intervention than I have.
May 10, 2023
Some really good rubrics
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews