Children's Wellbeing in Immigrant Families

This book studies children’s wellbeing from the perspective of Ethiopian immigrant families in Israel. It examines how the meeting of cultures within families affects relationships, language acquisition and the transmission of cultural heritage across generations after immigration. The younger generation, born in Israel or having arrived as infants, are faced with a reality very different from their parent’s childhood in Ethiopia. The book therefore addresses these key questions: What are the differences between families that enable some children to adopt a hybrid identity while others feel detached? How are the children affected by their experiences in Israeli society and specifically the educational system? What factors in their childhoods foster resilience and how do these children relate to their Ethiopian heritage? 
The book presents unique insights into the realities experienced by immigrant families using their own narratives, as it is based oninterviews by the author with 50 members of immigrant families from different generations. It is of special interest to academic courses on wellbeing, family studies, immigrants, diaspora studies, ethnic and religious studies, anthropology, folklore, sociology, gender studies, social work, child psychology and more.

Author Biography

Dr. Naomi Anne Shmuel is a British\Israeli author and anthropologist, and winner of the  Israel Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literary Works  in 2012 (also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award). She specializes in families in transition, and in training professionals (teachers, social workers, psychologists, medical professionals etc.) for working with human diversity. Her research focusses on the process of continuance and change across generations amongst Ethiopian immigrant families in Israel. Her books, which she began to write for her own children (whose father came to Israel from Ethiopia), were the first children’s books in Hebrew to feature children of colour. Many of these have won prizes, one has been converted into a children’s community park, one into a play and nine into animated films. They are widely used throughout Israel in schools and pre-school programmes to foster intercultural understanding and tolerance. Naomi uses her children’s booksto initiate discussions on sensitive topics (such as immigration, refugees, identity and belonging) in her academic courses and professional workshops. She is affiliated to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,  and lives in the Western Galilee.