Traditional frameworks for understanding the path to violence were built for a different era—and they're struggling to keep pace with nihilistic violent extremism. This ICDE report argues that NVE operates less like a linear progression and more like a high-control group, using coercion, identity manipulation, and emotional exploitation to pull vulnerable young people deeper into online ecosystems built around violence and notoriety. Drawing on the BITE model of coercive control, the report offers practitioners a more accurate and actionable lens for understanding how NVE works—and what it actually takes to intervene before it's too late.
