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Navigating Among WorldsThe Experience of Ethiopian Adolescents in Israel
Hadass Goldblatt
University of Haifa, Israel, goldblat{at}research.haifa.ac.il
Sara Rosenblum
University of Haifa, Israel
This qualitative study examined the experience of immigrant Jewish Ethiopian youth in Israel and its impact on their identity formation. The study sample comprised 13 high-school students, aged 14 to 17. Data analysis revealed two poles on which these youths negotiate their identity: (1) the temporal pole (past, present, and future), and (2) the youths' struggle to integrate in the new society, presenting family and school environments as two significant domains. To cope with present social and academic challenges and distress, the youths draw strength from their past in Ethiopia, which represents traditional family values, thus projecting to the future their optimistic hopes for familial and economic achievements, as well as the wish to belong to Israeli society.
Key Words: Ethiopian adolescents • immigration • identity formation • family • temporality • integration • qualitative research
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Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 22, No. 6,
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DOI: 10.1177/0743558407303165
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