ABSTRACT
Social phenomenologists who are interested in methodological issues of the social sciences claim that the purpose of social inquiry is to emphatically understand the social world by describing and interpreting the meaning and the significance of social activity. In addition, the life story of an individual and of a group reflects a specific social, cultural and historical context, as well as being influenced by this context. The inclination, therefore, to refrain from using Ethiopian cultural codes or to present cultural contents in a cross-cultural encounter is enhanced in these educational settings. As they are adolescents, hence at their 'age of plasticity', the Ethiopian boys and girls are prone to such pressures to an even greater extent. The Ethiopian cultural code cherishes names which are 'relations-dependent'. Ethiopian Jews were under such pressure. The pressure was especially strong on the adolescents in boarding schools and youth villages (from which about half of the interviewees in this study came).
