In this assignment, you have the opportunity to explore your own experience of friendship. In 500 words, please consider the ethical dimensions we have explored in the class and describe your understanding of friendship. Discuss how you primarily relate to your friends and how factors such as the Internet, environment, or upbringing may influence your experience of friendships. Please share some of your hopes and/or concerns regarding the state of your current friendships. Please be sure that ethical considerations inform your response.

This course uses the American Psychological Association (APA) format for scholarly writing. References and citations must adhere to the proper format for all written work presented, including essays, discussion postings, and essay exams. Online tips for using APA style may be found at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (Links to an external site.).  Your research should be documented by citing one or more credible sources, such as the textbook, a newspaper, a biographic article, book, or website. Wikipedia and any similar online reference sites where the content may be authored by anyone are not considered credible sources for scholarly writing.

• Hutchison, P. (1990). “A qualitative study of the friendships of people with disabilities.” Ontario: Ontario Research Council on Leisure. Retrieved from http://docplayer.net/41736962-A-qualitative-study-of-the-friendships-of-people-with-disabilities.html
• Ward, A. (2010). “When they don’t have to sit there they don’t.  They’ll go and sit somewhere else.” Students with disabilities talk  about barriers to friendship. Kairaranga, 11(1), 22-28. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ925403

To assist you in your research, the library has the following tutorials and links for you to use:

• Getting Started with Your Research (Links to an external site.)
• Frequently Asked Questions (Links to an external site.)
• Research Databases (Links to an external site.)

Submit your essay in a Microsoft Word or Open Office document (freeware found at Open Office (Links to an external site.)) and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox. The assignment must be submitted in the proper module assignment dropbox. Do not submit assignments via email.

Be sure to proofread your essay for spelling and grammar before submitting it. SmartThinking (Links to an external site.) is available to assist you with your writing. Students may access SmartThinking assistance by selecting the “Free Tutoring” link on the course’s left navigation bar.

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Upload Submission.” Enter the submission title and then click on “Select a file to upload.” Browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to Submission File. Click on “Continue.”  Confirm submission is correct a