Self-reflection Research Articles

Trajectory of suicide as a transformation in obscurity-As told by the deceased's next of kin.

There is a collective call from the field of suicide research for studies on the individual dynamics of suicidality in order to understand the deadliness of the suicidal process. This study examines the deceased next of kin's ('survivor's) experience of the suicidal process in order to gain perspectives that can be used in the preventive care of suicidal patients. The aim of this study was to explore the suicide process through the suicide survivor's experience. The study is designed and conducted through a phenomenological, reflective lifeworld approach. Twelve in-depth interviews concerning lived experiences of a suicide were conducted. The suicide process is described as the emerging of an obscured transformation of self, and an aligning to this changing understanding of self that forms a unique suicidal death course. This death course contains the co-occurrence of life and death orientations. Survivors' collected knowledge of a suicidal trajectory helps us understand the life conditions of a suicidal person that has ended their life. Life orientation and experiences of self-governance are critical parts of a suicidal trajectory and can have great preventive potential for care and assessments during suicidality. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) were used for the reporting structure of this article.

Navigating the Labyrinth of Otherness: A Postcolonial Intervention and Identity Formation in Hailu’s Novel, The Conscript

This article examines the intricate interplay of Otherness and identity in Hailu’s novel, The Conscript, focusing on the relationships among various colonized cultural groups and the internal struggles of the protagonist, Tuquabo. Through a postcolonial lens, the study reveals how Otherness manifests within the black community in Port-Sudan, as Ethiopians and Eritreans perceive the Sudanese as inferior, while the Sudanese view the Askaris as slaves. The analysis also explores the complexities of self and ‘Other’ within the conscripted Askaris’ experiences as they journey from Eritrea to Libya, encountering different cultures, landscapes, and religious beliefs. Furthermore, the article investigates the role of external factors such as colonization, climate, and cultural differences in shaping perceptions of self and ‘Other’. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s concept of identity as a constructed image, the study highlights the transformations and evolving understandings of self and ‘Other’ among the conscripted Askaris. This exploration of Otherness and identity in The Conscript deepens our understanding of the impacts of colonialism, the fluid nature of identity, and the need for empathy in bridging divides between self and ‘Other’.

Self and selfishness in Late Antiquity: Plotinus on oikeiōsis

Abstract Plotinus’ understanding of self is formulated largely in dialogue with the Stoics. In early works he categorically rejects the Stoic notion of the hēgemonikon (‘leading part’ or ‘commanding faculty’) of the soul. In this paper, I show how, in light of a general dissatisfaction with the Stoic account of self articulated in his early work, Plotinus deals with the Stoic notion of oikeiōsis (‘appropriation’). I argue that Plotinus’ understanding of oikeiōsis develops across the period during which he uses it. In his middle writings, Plotinus engages with Stoic oikeiōsis by exploring how it functions in contexts related to selfhood. In his later writings, he shows, on the one hand, how the concept of oikeiōsis can be Platonized, such as to account for the relation of the self to the Good, and, on the other, how the Stoic understanding of oikeiōsis is untenable for many of the same reasons that he rejects the Stoic notion of the hēgemonikon. Ultimately, Plotinus thinks that Stoic understandings of the hēgemonikon and oikeiōsis are untenable because they lead to something that could be characterized as ‘selfishness’.

Education, Ontological Security, and Preserving Hope in Liminality: Learning from the Daily Strategies Exercised by Syrian Refugee Youth in Jordan

Abstract This article draws on a study with Syrian refugee youth and their teachers to examine how young people, holding liminal social and legal statuses in Jordan, manage uncertainty. Through an analysis of students' experiences, this article describes the varying strategies that they developed to protect their sense of hope across time by maintaining ontological security, or an understanding of self. These findings suggested that refugee youth, unable to navigate uncertainty through their educational spaces, explored alternative ways to actively build hope and sustain a sense of control in their lives. They nurtured hope by constructing a continuous narrative of their experiences, exploring their skills and potential, and forming attachments to ideas of place and possibility. Buildings on these findings, this article argues for the importance of integrating practices within education which respond to refugee youths’ needs to maintain ontological security and hope in the face of uncertainty.

Differential Associations Between Posttraumatic Cognitions, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, and Race Among Black and White Veterans Seeking Treatment for Assaultive Military Sexual Trauma.

Past research supports the role of negative posttraumatic cognitions (NPCs) in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The relationship between NPCs and PTSD may be uniquely impacted by racial status and experiences of military sexual trauma (MST), both of which may have a unique impact on one's understanding of self, others, and the world. We explored racial differences in the association between NPCs and PTSD symptom clusters in a sample of veterans endorsing MST (N = 139; 74.8% White, 25.2% Black). A path model was created and analyzed both with the full sample and separately by racial group. In the full sample, NPCs about the self and world were significantly associated with intrusion, negative alterations in cognitions and mood (NACM), and arousal, but not avoidance. Self-blame was not a significant predictor of negative alterations in cognition in mood. This model was consistent in the White veteran model, whereas only negative cognitions about the self were associated with NACM in the Black veteran path model. NPCs about the self and world appear important to non-avoidance PTSD symptomatology related to MST and thus should be targeted in treatment. For Black veterans endorsing distress related to NACM symptoms, negative beliefs about the self should be specifically considered for intervention.

What makes Chinese adolescents “trapped” in severe mental illness? An interactionist perspective on self and identity

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore the self and identity perspectives among Chinese adolescents with severe mental illness (SMI), with a focus on their illness experience and subjective meaning of a formal diagnosis. Thirty-one Chinese adolescents were interviewed and the interview data were analysed strictly according to principles suggested by the constructivist grounded theory approach. Five theoretical codes emerged in this study, including changes of personal values and beliefs, accumulated persistent developmental challenges and personal stresses, ineffective coping strategies and development, symptoms and development of mental illness, and changed perceptions and understandings of self. A proposed model of “The dynamic interactions of Chinese adolescents’ identity and mental illness”, was constructed and visualized. The results revealed that adolescents’ identity formation is a fluctuating and non-linear process, but tends to be predominantly negative. The negative self, as informed by long-term ineffective coping with accumulated persistent developmental challenges and stressful events, develops towards a more serious status of negative identity and contributes to relapse symptoms, although this impact occurs variably with perceived personal characteristics. Besides, some participants who had achieved a state of “Buddha-like numbness” made a conscious decision to live a seemingly normal life while coexisting with their illness. The study also highlighted the positive aspects of identity formation that can arise from the experience of illness, including an enhanced sense of realism and increased empathy. Our findings will imply much the need for person-centred treatment plan and services that take into account of individual situations.

The incurable self: Negotiating social bonds and dis/connection with metastatic breast cancer.

As the culture of silence that once surrounded cancer has gradually given way to greater public awareness, normative visions of what cancer survivorship should entail have proliferated. These visions emphasise positivity and perseverance in pursuit of cure. While these visions provide comfort to many, for people with metastatic cancer, the emphasis on cure can undermine their sense of belonging to the broader collective of people living with cancer. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 38 Australian women living with metastatic breast cancer, we explore how incurable cancer inflects understandings of self and transforms interpersonal relationships. Extending ideas around biosociality and belonging, we explore the tenuousness of social bonds, revealing how (in)visibility, (in)authenticity and (in)validation circulate within the daily lives of women with metastatic breast cancer. We conceptualise accounts according to four social bonds: (1) threatened bonds where a relationship is strained by misunderstanding, (2) severed bonds where a relationship is ruptured due to misunderstanding, (3) attuned bonds whereby a relationship is based on shared identification and (4) flexible social bonds when a relationship is based on mutual understanding. More broadly, we illustrate the persistence of normative visions of cancer survivorship and their enduring effects on those whom such visions exclude.

What Got You through Lockdown?

What Got You through Lockdown?

The Conceptualization and Measurement of Sexual Self-Concept and Sexual Self-Schema: A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT Sexual self-concept and sexual self-schema are multidimensional constructs critical to developing a more holistic theoretical understanding of the sexual self. With an increased amount of research exploring these constructs over the past few decades, a systematic review was warranted to highlight next steps for future research in this area. Therefore, utilizing a staged systematic review, we aimed to explore how these parallel concepts are measured and among which populations they are used. The evaluation of 236 unique manuscripts published 1990–2020 revealed the use of 38 established or constructed measures of sexual self-concept, and 16 established or constructed measures of sexual self-schema. Three distinct measures were used in more than one-fifth of the studies reviewed, although the use of full-form measures vs. subscales differed across studies. Although there was diversity in the samples used in the studies reviewed, these studies were conducted most commonly with samples consisting of individuals who were primarily, if not solely, cisgender, women, heterosexual, White, non-college attending, U.S. residents, and/or had no unique characteristics identified (e.g., cancer patient/survivor, pregnant). The largest proportion of studies reviewed examined sexual self-concept during emerging adulthood, followed by early adulthood and middle adulthood. Suggested directions for future research in this area include (a) reexamining and testing how current measures are capturing these constructs and among whom; (b) expanding samples to include and/or target specifically gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic minoritized groups as well as individuals with unique characteristics that would affect sexual well-being; and (c) utilizing samples in childhood, adolescence, and late adulthood.

Initiation into Philosophy

Abstract Maine de Biran (1766–1824) was one of the most influential philosophers in France during the nineteenth century, being the principal inspiration for French spiritualism and French reflexive philosophy. He was also a significant Freemason. This article offers a translation of Biran’s two surviving Freemasonry Speeches, delivered c. 1810, and an introduction to Biran’s Freemasonry from the perspective of his philosophical work. The introduction gives a timeline of Biran’s Freemasonry and an overview of the text of the Speeches. It then considers some principal themes in francophone Freemasonic culture of the Restoration, especially the practice of ritualized introspection, before moving onto compare, briefly, the content of the Speeches to the main philosophical essay by Biran with which the Speeches is contemporaneous. Based on this evidence, the introduction makes suggestions regarding the role played by Freemasonry in the development of French spiritualism, and indicates trajectories for future research.

Technopreneurship Education, Occupational Counselling, and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Innovation and creativity are basic necessities for any functional education like entrepreneurship education which is skill-based. The method of instructional delivery should be technologically inclined where the scientific knowledge will be inculcated in it. Technopreneurship is a process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and competencies for venture creation through technological knowhow. Technology is what makes life easier to live. It is the scientific knowledge used in practical ways to meet and satisfy human needs. Occupational counselling is the guidance and information necessary for all individuals in the world of works for better understanding of self, personality type and acquisition of relevant qualification in relation to entrepreneurship skills, job productivity, satisfaction and overall wellbeing on the work performance. This paper, therefore, focuses on how technology entrepreneurship and occupational counselling can bring sustainable development to entrepreneurs in their business operations in the global market. The paper looked at the concept of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs, technopreneurship, development of entrepreneurship, acquisition of occupational information relevant for building entrepreneurship skills in Nigeria, significance of technology in the operations of modern entrepreneur, roles of technology-based entrepreneurship in economic development, teaching entrepreneurship education using project-based learning method and development of all related psychological characteristics the individual needs for sustainable development. The paper concluded that technopreneur, in order to succeed, needs to be taught technology-based entrepreneurship that encourages creativity and Innovation, the importance of understanding self in relation to job satisfaction and productivity that bring about commercialization and industrialization towards global marketing. The paper recommended, among others, that technology-based entrepreneurship education and occupational counselling should be entrenched into the curriculum right from Basic Schools to Tertiary institutions. It further stated that supports should be given to Tertiary institutions for curriculum overhauling and development of lecturers in form of training and retraining for sustainability.

A qualitative study exploring nurses' experiences of supporting South Asian people with dementia and their family carers.

To explore nurses' experiences of providing support to South Asian (SA) people with dementia and their family carers and to identify barriers and enablers of good transcultural care. A qualitative, phenomenological design was used. Fifteen registered community and in-patient nurses were recruited via one NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust. Nurses were from diverse backgrounds (Black, Ghanaian, Irish, Mauritian and White), 13 females and 2 males, and had been qualified from between 2 and 49 years. One-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted between July and October 2019. A thematic analysis identified three themes. 'Communication challenges' highlighted the impact of language barriers and the consequences of misunderstandings due to a dissonance in cultural values between nurses and interpreters. 'The bi-directional impact of culture' identified the two-way dynamics of transcultural work, the process of countering mutual stigma, and revealed an original perspective on how 'cultural desire' grows through practice experiences rather than being a prior motivation for learning. 'Learning experiences' showed that most learning was informal, experiential and prolonged, with nurses feeling they had unmet learning needs. Nurses have minimal training opportunities and are under-supported in their transcultural work, potentially perpetuating the disadvantages that SA people with dementia and their families face in relation to healthcare. Enhanced cultural understanding of self and others and application of specific communication strategies could support nurses, together with interpreters, to build rapport and effective working relationships with each other and service users. Transcultural nursing is a key competency, but nurses experience difficulties with providing care which is recognized as effective by SA family carers. The development of more acceptable and effective services requires improved mutual cultural understanding between nurses, interpreters and families, underpinned by joint brief training interventions, leading to more effective professional communication, better care outcomes and improved satisfaction with services.

Solidarity in Catholic Social Teaching and Its Implications for Creating an Authentic Human Self

The human self has been narrowly and erroneously understood in some quarters as simply purely scientific, naturalistic, individualistic, and materialistic. This understanding of the self has contributed to problems like selfishness, rugged individualism, materialism, get-rich-quick syndrome, ritual killings, genocidal wars, profiteering, and so forth. If these erroneous perceptions of the human person or self are left unchallenged, they will continue to degrade human society and dignity. This paper theorizes that the Catholic understanding of the human being as a social and communal being, thus implying solidarity, can help to recover the authentic human self. In this light, this paper uses the methods of critical analyses and hermeneutics to examine the Catholic understanding of solidarity and how it can help in retrieving the authentic human self. The paper finds that there are erroneous and narrow understandings of the human self and person. It concludes that the Catholic concept of solidarity can help to build an authentic human self and society.

A Career Education and Development Framework and measure for senior secondary school students

Career development learning is increasingly emphasized as a curricular strategy to prepare students for their post-compulsory school transitions to further study or employment. Educators require career development frameworks and resources to support students’ reflective learning. The present research tested a hypothesized Career Education and Development Framework (CEDF) comprising eight factors: The understanding of self; opportunities; influences; goal setting; decision-making; taking action; reflecting/reviewing; and confidence. The hypothesized framework was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using data from two independent studies with samples ( n = 567, n = 272) of senior secondary school students from different schools and jurisdictions. In addition to acceptable overall fit, invariance testing revealed consistency across gender on most factors.

DJUNA BARNES'IN LYDIA STEPTOE ÖYKÜLERİ'NDE YIKICI KATEGORİLER OLARAK GÜNLÜK BİÇİMİ VE TOPLUMSAL CİNSİYET

The American-English writer Djuna Barnes (1892-1982) has been an influential figure in the English modernist fiction. Her works challenge the conventional approaches to sex/gender categories through experimentation on the level of both context and form. Barnes’s tendency to uncover the fluidity of subjectivity and disrupt the Cartesian understanding of the stable Self particularly shows itself in her problematization of genre categories. In other words, she offers a radical critique of “naturalized” gender/sex categories in her works by re-formulating a wide range of genres. Reading her three short stories, written under the pseudonym Lydia Steptoe, this study aims to explore how she plays with the diary form and why she locates it within the genre of short story. It argues that Barnes’s “The Diary of a Dangerous Child” (1922), “The Diary of a Small Boy” (1923), and “Madame Grows Older: A Journal at the Dangerous Age” (1924) shed light on the feminist/poststructuralist notion of the subject-in-the-making through the re-appropriation of the diary form within the genre of short story. Her experimentation on the genre functions to lay bare the production and destabilisation of gender boundaries, and thus, presents diary writing as part of storytelling as a subversive act witnessing and/or contributing to the ontological becoming of subjects.

<em>Filega</em>/In Search: Embodying Community in Ethiopia

This paper offers a decolonial reading of Filega, an annual grassroots street performance organized by Ethiopian dance artist Melaku Belay in the context of an Orthodox Christian religious festival Timket. Our contextualized reading illuminates Ethiopian artists’ capacity to create beauty, joy and community; they do so by disrupting the dichotomies between discipline and freedom, the sacred and the profane. Filega’s decolonial significance also lies in its potential to transform public spaces and collective memories in service of community. In constructing this paper, we seek to decolonize our writing practice by unsettling the theory/practice dichotomy, and by experimenting with modes of co-authorship. Along with Filega participants and witnesses, we search for decolonized understandings of self, community, and discipline.

Myth Theory and Structuralism —A Study of Lévi- Strauss’s mythological Research from Myth and Meaning

Myth as a cultural phenomenon, reflects a period of human civilization development and change track. Under the influence of Marxist theory and psychoanalysis in his early years, Lévi-Strauss believed that the study of myth not only extended space as the main line and supplemented the early history which emphasized the dimension of time, but also explored the significance of “naturalizing man” in cultural studies. This paper discusses Lévi- Strauss’s views on the relationship between myth and science, myth and history, myth and music, as well as structuralism in his book myth and meaning, and discusses his understanding of self and existence in the study of myth.

Online art therapy pilot in the Western Isles of Scotland: a feasibility and acceptability study of a novel service in a rural community.

Art therapy, despite being an evidence-based, safe and acceptable intervention, is not widely available to clients in Scotland. Online delivery has the potential to expand the reach and accessibility, but special considerations need to be given to designing successful online art therapy services, due to the unique emphasis on the role of an image and artmaking alongside the therapeutic relationship. A pilot online art therapy service was developed and delivered in the Western Isles of Scotland to individual adult clients wishing to increase their psychological wellbeing. This research aimed to assess feasibility and acceptability of the novel service, identify enablers and challenges in setting up and delivering the service, explore participants' expectations and experiences of art therapy and identify any impacts of the service. Mixed-method evaluation incorporated questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and Audio Image Recordings (AIRs). Findings were grouped into themes across several key areas: service setup, research procedures, intervention design and impacts and insights. Recommendations were developed for the first three areas and the last section presents indications of change and gives voice to client experience primarily. Online art therapy was described by clients as a judgement-free zone which allowed freedom to experiment, express, feel and immerse themselves in the creative flow. Other benefits included readiness to accept emotions, increased understanding of self and others and being able to see things from a new perspective. Clients recognised the unique nature of art therapy in relation to other psychological treatments and valued the freedom of expression it offered, including the non-verbal. This project demonstrated that online art therapy is not only a feasible an acceptable intervention, but potentially also a powerfully impactful one, capable of instilling a positive change in a surprisingly short period of time. Exploring ways to expand current and introduce new art therapy services is highly recommended. Refinement of an intervention design, tools and research procedures is recommended through further feasibility studies of a larger scale.

Hidup Sehat Bersama Al-Quran (Telaah Tematik Ayat-ayat tentang Kesehatan)

Healthy Life with Al-Quran (Thematic Study of Verses about Health)This article aims to reveal the concept of healthy life with the Qur'an in maudhuiy interpretation approach which is a literary study. This article summarizes that explain of Qur’an and their correlation with hadith. He provides a comprehensive understanding that Islam really wants health and the impact it causes. Based on several verses and hadiths presented in this paper, there is a relationship between physical and psychological health, in which humans cannot be said to be healthy, when their minds are not healthy, when they are physically strong, they do not appreciate when they are mentally ill so that they are healthy mentally and physically. is the answer. To achieve quality health that combines body and soul, it is necessary to have a complete understanding of human self as a perfect entity if it does not separate aspects of the soul and body. When humans provide their bodily needs in the form of food and drink, the quality of what they consume will affect the quality of their soul.

Disguising as I Go

Printmaking, Relief My body of work is a reflection of self. I am perceiving myself as a conscious being inside of a fleshy vessel and I explore the sentiments of that experience. I am building a relationship between myself and my perception of self. Striving to evoke malaise as a means to unearth buried emotions. I am investigating the transmutation of the internal self as it is expressed through the external self. Abstracted forms intended to reimagine the body’s physical reality are conceived under the pretense of stripping back the self. Internal dialogues are articulated and their narratives are emphasized through repetitive lines and fluid forms. As the rhythm accumulates, visual phrases are conceived in which the lines answer one another only to divulge into new conversations as they sprawl across the page. Objective and subjective reality come together to see beyond the discomfort and harmonize my mind and body.