Understanding cigarette smoking and cessation among adults with intellectual disability in residential services: A multiperspective study.

This study aimed to bring together, in the crucible of time, two characters belonging to two works separated by a temporal distance – A Queda dum Anjo by Camilo Castelo Branco and O Vendedor de Passados by José Eduardo Agualusa. The purpose was to demonstrate that the attachment to the past – both in the case of Camilo’s hero and Agualusa’s protagonist – represents a means of identity construction as well as of social affirmation and adaptation. In any case, one certainty cannot be concealed: we are faced with two characters inscribed under the sign of a present made up of pasts, though with different implications and consequences for each.

This research paper explores how Xi Jinping's political narrative is manifesting a dream of world order by strategically telling stories of anti-hegemonism, inclusiveness, and multipolar world order within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper examines how China portrays itself as a responsible leader, recommending alternatives to the U.S.-led liberal order while creating the narrative of connectivity, cooperation, and shared destiny. This framework recognizes three major dimensions: a) construction of identity, which includes China as a compassionate global leader, the Global South as partners, and the U.S. as hegemon; b) legitimation of action which contains construction of the BRI as a catalyst of mutual development; and c) the reformation of global norms which is advocating inclusivity, multipolarity, and synergy policies over hegemonic intervention. Inserting BRI discourse in local ideological narratives and global normative conflicts, the paper explains that Xi Jinping's speeches and Chinese narratives assist as a planned strategy to promote China's anticipated order, one that combines the narrative of development with civilizational history. This discursive framing resists unilateralism while seeking to construct a historical bloc around mutual futures and collective governance.

The following research Article describes a gender centered account of the exemplary operational strategies of the Israeli intelligence facilitation firm the Mossad through the documented life of two women i.e., Sylvia Rafael and Catherine Perez-Shakdam. Based on archival information, memoirs, declassified records, and reliable media investigations, the paper will analyze the use of gender and identity construction and ideological orientation in human intelligence (HUMINT) operations. One of the participants of the Cold War, the undercover Israeli campaign after the Munich massacre was Sylvia Rafael who worked under the alias of a journalist to help locate the desired targets. Catherine Perez-Shakdam is a contemporary political commentator who was a contributor to Iranian state media, subsequently publicly denounced her religious identity, raising concerns with the manipulation and control of ideology and access. It does not make speculative conclusions, yet the paper presents patterns in the use of gendered identity in intelligence that can be verified. It forms part of the critical research in the field of intelligence in wondering how the traditional and non traditional facets of espionage become grown-up reliant on the performative identity within the notionally sensitive political set ups.

This autoethnographic study examines the evolving professional landscape of student affairs in Canada through the lived experiences of five scholar-practitioners. Drawing on reflective narratives and thematic analysis, the study explores three central themes: unplanned career entry into student affairs, the expanding and complex demands placed on practitioners, and the dynamic construction of professional identity. Framed by the job demands-resources model and social ecological systems theory, this research reveals how intersecting personal, institutional, and systemic forces may shape the careers and commitments of student affairs professionals. Findings highlight tensions between credentialism and experiential knowledge, the emotional toll of equity work, and the precarity of institutional belonging. This article offers a nuanced understanding of the student affairs profession and calls for more inclusive, relational, and critically reflexive approaches to professional development, institutional policy, and workforce sustainability. It contributes to emerging discourses on practitioner well-being, professionalization, and systemic transformation in higher education.

This article investigates the development of Islamic and Arab feminism as frameworks for constructing women’s identity in the 20th and 21st centuries. It distinguishes between Islamic feminism, which operates through the reinterpretation of sacred texts such as the Qur’an and Hadith, and Arab feminism, which is more often embedded in secular, nationalist, and postcolonial discourses. It explores how Arab women writers have negotiated between religious tradition and feminist agency, producing hybrid models of identity that bridge the personal and the political. Tracing the evolution of feminist thought through four historical waves, the research highlights thematic developments such as legal rights, education, intersectionality, and digital activism. Particular attention is given to the reinterpretation of patriarchal concepts like qiwāma, the reclamation of religious authority by female scholars, and the role of literature in amplifying women’s voices. The article argues that both Islamic and Arab feminisms challenge hegemonic Western feminist narratives by offering culturally embedded alternatives rooted in lived realities and theological introspection. These feminist movements do not reject religion but instead aim to harmonize faith with gender justice, making them powerful vehicles for societal transformation. This study contributes to global feminist scholarship by presenting a nuanced, interdisciplinary approach to identity construction, one that foregrounds agency, tradition, and transformation in equal measure.

Abstract This study examines the impact of national memory on the construction of Germany as a member state devoted to the European project and identity. More specifically, it attempts to understand, in a comparative manner, what functions “good” and “bad” memories play in Germany’s attachment to the European Union (EU). The aim of this inquiry is not only to reveal the main historical events and episodes that shape German leaders’ perceptions with regard to the EU, but also to detect the degree of differentiation between the “good” and “bad” memories in this process. In order to fulfill this task, the study focuses on the Merkel era, which covers the period from 2005 to 2021. Through inductive frame analysis, it explores the historical frames utilized by German leaders in relation to Germany’s attachment to the European project and identity. The relevant dataset covers the texts of speeches delivered by Chancellor Merkel, as well as those of foreign ministers and federal presidents who held office during Merkel’s chancellorship. In light of the findings of this textual analysis, it is emphasized that national memory is a significant element in the construction of Germany’s European identity, given the high frequency of history-related frames. Yet “good” and “bad” memories serve distinct functions, as good memories are translated into Germany’s sense of debt and gratitude, while bad memories are framed as lessons that underscore the importance of the European project and identity.

Studies on digital identity on social media are extensive, but the specific problem remains that the literature is fragmented in explaining how identity construction is shaped simultaneously by user meaning-making and platform design. This study addresses that problem by systematically synthesizing prior findings through the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) lens. Using a systematic literature review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), 15 peer-reviewed articles published between 2016–2025 were selected and analyzed thematically. The results show three consistent patterns: (1) digital identity is constructed through ongoing negotiation between users and audiences under cultural norms; (2) platform affordances and governance (e.g., visibility mechanisms, interaction features, and moderation rules) constrain and enable identity performance; and (3) identity construction is recursive—users adapt to platform structures while their practices also stabilize or reshape how technologies are used and interpreted. These findings indicate that digital identity on social media is best understood as a socio-technical outcome produced by reciprocal interactions between social contexts and technological arrangements.

ABSTRACT This paper explores how Balkan migrants, operating small gastronomy businesses in Vienna, construct their identity as migrant entrepreneurs. Drawing on the concept of narrative identity and using qualitative interviews, the analysis investigates how narrative resources – such as a transformation plot, the development of agency as self-empowerment, and positioning within dominant societal discourses – are employed to construct identity. The empirical findings reveal a specific narrative pattern that characterizes the identity construction of migrant entrepreneurs. This pattern blends entrepreneurial themes of hard work and autonomy with migrant experiences of vulnerability and engagement with migration discourses in the host society. By focusing on narratives of self-empowerment, the study shows how narrators strategically utilize discursive resources to render their stories intelligible and legitimate within broader societal frameworks. Entrepreneurship emerges as a means of reclaiming agency and achieving recognition, which in turn suggests that institutional practices should value initiative and autonomy rather than emphasizing needs.

Creating the self: The construction of identity through self-narration in autobiographical interviews

После распада Советского Союза в городах архангельской агломерации начинают предприниматься попытки создания новой поморской городской идентичности, имеющей только воображаемую связь с исторической. Акторами формирования новой идентичности в Архангельской области стали научная и творческая интеллигенция и региональные политики. В настоящей статье предпринята попытка показать один из способов конструирования современной поморской идентичности — публикацию экспедиционных материалов на примере книги В. Н. Матонина и С. В. Рапенковой «Мезени живая вода. История края в судьбах его жителей» (2017). В ней опубликованы материалы интервью, записанные в экспедициях Товарищества Северного Мореходства и Соловецкого морского музея в Мезенский и Лешуконский районы Архангельской области (2011–2016). Научное содержание и репрезентация экспедиционных материалов вызывают много вопросов к ее авторам. Авторы книги опираются на теорию этногенеза Л. Н. Гумилева, согласно которой особенности этноса обусловлены особенностями ландшафта, в котором он проживает, и транслируют мифологизированный образ помора, сложившийся в местном художественном и медийном дискурсах. Не владея в должной степени этнографическими и антропологическими методами исследования, авторы, используя репрезентацию экспедиционных материалов, создают образ не реального, а воображаемого сообщества и вводят в научный оборот неверифицированную информацию. This article begins a series of articles devoted to the construction of Pomor identity, a process that began in the Arkhangelsk region in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pomor identity has not been solidified for a long time. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the cities of the Arkhangelsk urban agglomeration, attempts to create a new Pomor urban identity began, but it only had an imaginary connection with the past. Those active in forming the new identity were academic and artistic intellectuals and regional politicians. This article examines one attempt to construct modern Pomor identity, through the publication of expedition materials. This is exemplified by V. N. Matonin and S. V. Rapenkova’s Mezen’s Living Water: The History of the Region in the Fates of its Residents (2017). This book contains interviews recorded during expeditions by the Northern Shipping Partnership and the Solovetsky Sea Museum to the Mezensky and Leshukonsky Districts of the Arkhangelsk Region in 2011-2016. The scholarly content and authors’ presentation of the expeditionary materials raise many problems. The authors rely on L. N. Gumilev’s theory of ethnogenesis, according to which the peculiarities of an ethnic group are conditioned by the peculiarities of the landscape where it lives, and they try to depict the mythologized image of the Pomors as formed in local artistic and media discourse. However, without knowledge of proper ethnographic and anthropological research methods, the authors use representations of expedition materials to describe an imaginary, rather than real, community and to introduce unverified information into scholarship.

Background Children can be negatively affected by their parents’ alcohol consumption practices, with implications for their physical and mental wellbeing. Here, we analyze meaning-making practices and interpretive frameworks used in accounts of children’s experiences of living with a ‘heavy-drinking’ parent in Australia. Methods We use data gathered from 21 interviews with caregivers of children and adults reflecting on their childhood. Framed by feminist theorizing on intersections of parenthood and gender, our analysis focuses on constructions of parent and child identities, alongside emotional and relational effects. Results Three central constructions of the drinking parent were identified: capricious, intimidating and alien. Intersections between gender, drinking and parenting were apparent, where fathers were commonly depicted as aggressive and violent, while mothers were described as lacking an emotional connection to children. Children were commonly presented as anxious, lonely, and private. Immediate and long-term emotional and relational effects of these experiences were also described. Conclusions Children’s identities and wellbeing can be affected by parental ‘heavy drinking’, and these effects can extend into adulthood. Gendered norms and social elements shape the interpretations of these experiences. This knowledge can inform professionals engaging with children with ‘heavy-drinking’ parents and highlights the need for policies that reduce alcohol-related harm.

In the digital consumer ecosystem, online reviews for infant products serve as a critical locus for risk communication and caregiving identity construction. This study draws on a corpus of 11,435 consumer reviews of baby cribs collected from major Chinese e-commerce platforms to examine how parents linguistically articulate risk perceptions, evaluate product performance, and communicate caregiving concerns. Adopting a mixed-methods approach that combines Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling with manual qualitative coding, the analysis identifies five recurring discourse themes: Odor Risk, Safety Anxiety, Parental Responsibility, Emotional Externalization, and Esthetics & Design. The findings indicate that Odor Risk and Safety Anxiety constitute the most salient sources of parental concern. In particular, sensory cues such as smell, along with installation and assembly experiences, function as key indicators through which parents assess product reliability and potential safety hazards. These cues are frequently embedded in experiential narratives that describe inspection, mitigation, and evaluation processes. Beyond risk assessment, the analysis reveals a consistent narrative pattern in which parents negotiate a transition from initial apprehension to subsequent reassurance through specific discursive moves, including concessive structures and temporal sequencing. Importantly, online reviews are used not only to report product attributes but also to perform responsible parenting roles by demonstrating attentiveness, caution, and care. By foregrounding the interaction between sensory experience, risk evaluation, and affective stance, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of digital parenting discourse in high-involvement consumption contexts and highlights the social and communicative functions of online reviews in infant product markets.

The relationship between the unconscious and narrative identity remains unresolved within Russian philosophy. This study seeks to rectify this situation. The work’s scientific novelty is also determined by its interdisciplinary approach, which integrates the traditions of phenomenology (E. Husserl), psychoanalysis (S. Freud), and philosophical hermeneutics (P. Ricoeur). This article conceptualizes the unconscious as a noumenal source of subjectivity, inaccessible to direct signification but manifesting itself through symptoms and affects. As a noumenon, the unconscious is inaccessible to direct reference, precedes symbolization, and serves as a space for the accumulation of “pre-reflective” experience. A hypothesis is advanced and substantiated regarding the dual function of the unconscious in the structure of narrative identity: on the one hand, it serves as a “reservoir” for the formation of counternarratives that challenge established self-narratives, while on the other, it constitutes the foundation of pre-reflective experience, ensuring the continuity of the pre-reflective and the affective content of implicit memory. It is demonstrated that the process of constructing narrative identity is linked not only to the symbolic horizon but also to affective experience rooted in pre-reflective experience, opening new perspectives for understanding the dynamics of personal identity construction.

This article deals with the phenomenon of the Soviet-Polish border in Belarus in 1921–1939 as a factor that influenced the regional identity construction and development of mutual stereotypes among the Belarusians who found themselves within the Polish state and within the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). Particular attention is paid to the analysis of oral history materials recorded in 2000–2010 in the area of the former Soviet-Polish borderland. The geopolitical rift of the ethnic territory and the low level of Belarusians’ national identity became the basis for new forms of identity of the population of Western and Eastern Belarus (“Westerners” and “Easterners”). During the functioning of the Soviet-Polish border, the mutual representations of “Westerners” and “Easterners” are vague and are shaped mainly by state ideology and propaganda, where the image of an external “enemy” prevails. A detailed filling of the images of “Westerners” and “Easterners” with social, economic, and ethnocultural characteristics occurs after the physical (1939) and actual (1944) elimination of the Soviet-Polish border. During the Nazi occupation (1941–1944), and especially in the post-war years, communication between the population of Western and Eastern Belarus became intense. The massive labour migration, as well as the flows of beggars from the devastated areas to the relatively prosperous Western region of the country in the early postwar years, also signified the formation of informational flows in both directions. According to the author, mutual stereotypical ideas of “Westerners” and “Easterners” were finally formed after the end of the Second World War. The core of these ideas is the antinomy of “prosperity–poverty”, as well as a set of related connotations: “individual farmer–collective farmer”, “hardworking–idler”, “believer–atheist”, “policeman–partisan", “individualist–collectivist” and “secretive–communicative”.

This essay critically analyzes the dynamics of parental overprotection and emotional neglect during childhood and adolescence, and their impact on the construction of identity, self-esteem, and autonomy throughout the life cycle. From an interdisciplinary approach that integrates pedagogy, psychology, and the paradigm of complexity, it examines how certain parenting practices—although motivated by care or the absence of harmful intent—may generate emotionally fragile and dependent individuals with difficulties in facing the challenges of adult life. The text explores the effects of insecure attachment, emotional invisibility, and the denial of conflict as formative experiences that limit the development of independent life skills and favor the reproduction of dysfunctional bonds in personal and professional relationships. Likewise, adolescence is highlighted as a key stage for subjective reconfiguration, where the presence of significant adults and a pedagogy based on accompaniment, listening, and recognition can contribute to the re-signification of early experiences. Finally, the essay invites a rethinking of the role of the family and educational agents from a more humane, ethical, and relational perspective, aimed at the formation of autonomous, critical, and emotionally healthy individuals.

This study examines the contextual Qur’anic interpretation developed by Ahmad Sonhaji and its influence on Muslim identity formation within Singapore’s multicultural and secular social order. As a prominent religious scholar, Sonhaji articulates pluralism as part of divine ordinance, emphasizing justice, coexistence, and ethical engagement with religious diversity. Employing a qualitative research design, this study combines textual analysis of Sonhaji’s tafsir writings with semi-structured interviews involving Islamic educators in Singapore to assess the transmission and reception of his interpretive framework within Islamic educational institutions.““The findings demonstrate that Sonhaji’s contextual tafsir offers a locally grounded yet theologically coherent approach that reconciles Islamic normative teachings with the realities of plural society. His interpretation reinforces Muslim identity not through exclusivism, but through ethical responsibility, civic engagement, and interfaith respect. Integrated into both formal curricula and digital learning platforms, his ideas encourage critical thinking and participatory religious understanding, particularly among younger Muslims. This study argues that Sonhaji’s work represents an important model of localized Qur’anic scholarship that contributes to contemporary tafsir studies and Muslim minority discourse. It highlights the significance of context-sensitive interpretation in enabling Muslim communities to navigate diversity while maintaining religious authenticity.

This paper explores how animals are represented in Urdu proverbs that are taught in the Class 9 Urdu Grammar Book (2025 edition) of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board by applying the theoretical model of ecolinguistics. The study will be based on the framework of the stories we live by of Arran Stibbe (2015) because it will focus on how the animal-related proverbs in an official educational text create cultural, moral, and ecological meanings to learners in their secondary level in Pakistan. The systematical identification and analysis of twelve animal-related proverbs based on patterns of ideology, framing, identity construction, evaluation, and erasure were carried out under the qualitative descriptive research design. The results can be summarized as the fact that animals are portrayed anthropocentrically, primarily as metaphorical ways of moralizing human behaviour and rarely as living creatures with their own value and ecological functions. Unfavourable representations are also prevalent with domestic, culturally unpopular animals such as the donkey, owl, jackal and sheep whereas positive qualities are mainly applied to strong predators such as the lion. These images strengthen racist and speciesist world views and hide the ecological roles and agency of animals. The analysis also shows that the proverbs are passing along culturally determined stereotypes and not ecologically informed views, thus harshly restricting the possibilities of cultivating empathy, interdependence and ecological responsibility in the minds of the learners. The paper draws the conclusion that although Urdu proverbs are an important resource in terms of cultural and pedagogical importance, their unquestioning use in the textbooks can lead to the continuation of the ecologically destructive narratives. It claims that to have an ecologically conscious curriculum design, either a critical contextualization of traditional proverbs or an ecocentric representation to complement them is necessary to suit language education with the more broad objectives of environmental ethics and environmental sustainability.

This article explores the role of the alphabet in the formation of the Azerbaijani literary language. The study demonstrates that the Arabic script was phonetically and graphically inadequate for the Azerbaijani language, leading to orthographic instability, discrepancies between pronunciation and writing, and delays in the language normalization process from the medieval period to the 20th century. Based on historical sources and expert opinions, it is shown that the inconsistencies in spelling found in written monuments were associated both with individual approaches of scribes and their efforts toward standardization. The article also examines the reformist initiatives of Enlightenment-era intellectuals regarding the Arabic script and analyzes the socio-political dimensions of the transition to the Latin alphabet. The study concludes that changes in the writing system are not merely technical adjustments but also strategic factors in language development and the construction of national identity.

This study examines the construction of Muslim identity in Indonesian Islam by analyzing the historical and socioreligious dynamics between traditionalist and modernist Islamic orientations. The research employs a qualitative method with content analysis, drawing on classical and contemporary scholarly works, historical documents, and religious discourses related to Islamic movements in Indonesia. Data were analyzed through thematic and discourse analysis to identify patterns of religious authority, interpretation, and social practice. The findings indicate that traditionalist Islam in Indonesia is characterized by strong adherence to local traditions, Sufistic practices, Shafi‘i jurisprudence, and reliance on religious authority figures, particularly within rural communities. In contrast, modernist Islam emphasizes rational interpretation, scriptural purification (tajdid), rejection of blind taqlid, and the integration of Islamic values with modern education, social institutions, and organizational activism, as represented by movements such as Muhammadiyah, Persis, and Al-Irsyad. These orientations produce distinct yet interacting forms of Muslim identity shaped by historical experiences of colonialism, modernization, and global Islamic reformism. This study implies that the coexistence and contestation between traditionalist and modernist Islam constitute a foundational element of Indonesian Muslim identity. Understanding this dynamic contributes to the discourse on religious moderation, social transformation, and the sociology of Islam in plural societies.