Identity Reformulation among Ethiopian Immigrant Soldiers

Identity reformulation as a result of cross-cultural transition was studied among a group of Ethiopian immigrant soldiers who were coming to the end of their military service. In this study, I sought to understand identity reformulation as a process of interpretation from the soldier's point of view. The meaning of interpretation used here is processes of evaluation and redefinition concerning different issues and aspects of identity reformulation. The model that guided the research is anthropological-psychological (psycho-cultural) and is based on work definitions that were derived from a literature review of Anthropology, Social Psychology, and Cross-Cultural Psychology. The essentials of these work definitions are: the perception of identity as of a cognitive and affective nature, ² which is a summation of processes ³ whose nature and evaluation and re-evaluation, internalization and rejection, ⁴ and their expression is an intersubjeetive articulation of an experience, ⁵ which in this study means identity reformulation of an experience, ⁶ which here means identity reformulation as a result of cross-cultural transition. The model leads to the study of identity reformulation as an interpretative process from the informant's point of view. This interpretative process takes place with reference to universal characteristics concerning identity, such as: self-esteem, historical continuity and cultural identification, and a sense of belonging. The specific contents of these processes are sought for the particular group being studied and the patterns that are created as a result. ⁷ Finally, the study was intended to depict and explain the state of the process of identity reformulation and its possible results as expressed in identity confusion, conflict, or crisis, ⁸ and the appearance of these problems among the Ethiopian immigrant soldiers, as well as to explain the continuity in the cultural identity that was found among the study group and the processes that may have contributed to it, ⁹ The complexity and multi-dimensionality of Israeli society is re-emphasised with the arrival of each new wave of immigrants, and especially when it is a group with cultural and physical characteristics that are so different and unique from the veteran population as those of the Ethiopian Jews. This study points out the experiences that the immigrants experienced and which continue to influence them in the process of reformulating their new identity in Israel.