| Course | HW420 Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Meaning and purpose case study |
| Length | About 1,120 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HW420 Unit 5
What a Man Is For After the Herd Is Sold: A Unit 5 Meaning and Purpose Case Study Using Frankl's Three Sources of Meaning
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HW420: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness
Unit 5 Meaning and Purpose Case Study
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The farmer, his family and his community are composite; the framework and research cited are real.
Summary
Walter, a composite 66-year-old, milked cows on his family's dairy farm in upstate New York twice a day, every day, for forty-one years. Last April, with milk prices low, his knees failing and no child wanting to take over, he sold the herd of 120 cows. He leases his cropland to a neighbor and still lives in the farmhouse with his wife, Ruth. He still wakes at 4:30 a.m. Most mornings he drives to the farm supply cooperative with no errand and stands talking by the coffee machine. In August he told his daughter, "I don't know what I'm for anymore."
The Framework
Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camps, argued in Man's Search for Meaning that the primary human motivation is the search for meaning, and that meaning can be found in three ways: by creating a work or doing a deed; by experiencing something or encountering someone, especially in love; and by the attitude one takes toward unavoidable suffering (Frankl, 2006). These are often summarized as creative, experiential and attitudinal values.
The framework fits Walter's situation because it does not treat meaning as a single thing that can be lost all at once. It asks which sources the sale affected.
The Three Sources in Walter's Life
1. Work and deeds. Before the sale: the daily care of the herd, the farm's reputation for milk quality, the knowledge passed from his father. After the sale: the main outlet is gone. The farm still exists, but Walter no longer works it. Status: largely lost.
2. Experience and relationship. Before the sale: his marriage, his daughter and grandchildren, the land itself, early mornings in the barn. After the sale: his marriage and family remain, and he still walks the fields at dawn. Status: intact, though the barn is empty.
3. Attitude toward what cannot be changed. Before the sale: little called on. After the sale: the end of farming is now the unchangeable fact, and his stance toward it is still forming. Status: undecided.
The sale removed one of Frankl's three sources almost entirely and left the other two in place, so Walter's statement that he does not know what he is for describes the loss of his work, not the loss of all meaning.
What He Has Started Building
Walter's own actions in the past few months suggest that he is already reaching for new sources of meaning, though he does not describe them that way.
The coffee machine at the cooperative. His daily trip, which his daughter worries is aimless, has made him an informal adviser to younger farmers who ask him about herd health and milk quality. Twice this summer, a neighbor called him to look at a sick heifer. These are deeds, a new outlet for knowledge the sale did not take away.
The grandchildren. Since the sale, Walter has started teaching his twelve-year-old granddaughter to drive the old tractor and to read the weather for haying. That is both experience, in relationship, and a deed, in passing on knowledge.
The empty barn. Walter has begun talking with the county 4-H coordinator about lending the barn for a youth calf program. Nothing is decided.
Research on Retirement
Walter's situation is a retirement, though not one he chose freely. Research following retirees over time found that most maintained stable psychological well-being through the transition, a smaller group experienced a decline followed by recovery and very few showed lasting decline; the patterns depended on factors such as health, the circumstances of leaving work and the activities people took up afterward (Wang, 2007). Walter may be in the decline-and-recovery group, and the activities he has started are the kind associated with recovery.
Where Frankl's Third Source Comes In
Frankl gave particular weight to the attitude a person takes toward what cannot be changed (Frankl, 2006). For Walter, the end of dairy farming is fixed. What remains open is how he understands it: as a failure, a betrayal by the market, a natural end to his father's line of work or a completion. In conversation he has used all four. The case suggests that helping him find words for the end of farming that he can live with may matter as much as finding new activities.
What His Wife Sees
Ruth has her own view of the change. She says Walter is restless indoors and that the house feels crowded with him in it at midday, which it never did when he was in the barn. She has noticed that he is happiest after the co-op mornings and after afternoons with their granddaughter, and quietest on days when nothing pulls him out of the house. Her observations support the case's reading: the deeds and relationships Walter has found since the sale are doing real work, and days without them are the hardest.
Measuring Where He Stands
If Walter were willing, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire could show whether he feels meaning is present and whether he is searching (Steger et al., 2006). Given his comments, a low presence score and a moderate search score would be expected now. A later retest could show whether the new activities are restoring presence.
Why Not Simply Find a Hobby
Well-meaning friends have suggested that Walter take up golf or woodworking. The framework explains why that advice misses. A hobby may provide experience, but Walter's loss is in the first source, work and deeds: being needed and being good at something that matters to others. The activities he has found for himself, advising younger farmers and teaching his granddaughter, replace exactly that. A hobby chosen to fill time would not.
Implications
A wellness professional working with Walter would not try to supply meaning. The case suggests three supports: recognizing the advising and teaching he already does as real contributions, encouraging the 4-H conversation if he wants it, and making room for him to talk about the end of farming. If his statement about not knowing what he is for came with signs of depression, such as loss of interest, poor sleep beyond his early rising or hopelessness, his physician should be involved.
Limits
The case is composite and the framework is philosophical rather than empirical, though it has shaped later research on meaning. Walter's own account may change as the first year without the herd passes.
References
Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man's search for meaning. Beacon Press. (Original work published 1946)
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
Wang, M. (2007). Profiling retirees in the retirement transition and adjustment process: Examining the longitudinal change patterns of retirees' psychological well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 455-474. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.455
HW420 Unit 5 instructions, in plain terms
The case study unit asks students to analyze a person's sources of meaning and purpose using a named framework. The usual requirements are a summary of the case, an account of the framework, an analysis of what the person has lost and kept, evidence of new sources and implications. Explain the framework in its originator's terms and apply each part to specific details. Separate what a life change removed from what it left intact, rather than treating meaning as gone. Look for what the person is already building, which may not be described as meaningful by the person. Use research where it fits, such as studies of retirement. Avoid diagnosing; describe what the case shows and refer if signs warrant. Five pages is common.
How this HW420 Unit 5 example is built
A one-paragraph summary introduces Walter, the sale and his remark to his daughter. The framework section explains Frankl's three ways of finding meaning. A three-line table sorts each source before and after the sale, and the highlighted sentence explains that he lost his work, not all meaning. A section describes what he has started: advising at the co-op, teaching his granddaughter, a conversation about the barn. Retirement research on different patterns of adjustment follows. A section on Frankl's third source considers how Walter frames the end of farming. His wife's observations add a second view, and sections on measurement, why a hobby would miss the point, implications and limits close the case.
Where the points sit in the HW420 Unit 5 rubric
HW420 case study rubrics tend to weight accurate application of the framework most, with each part tied to evidence from the case. Depth shows when the writer separates lost from remaining sources and identifies new ones. Use of supporting research, such as studies of retirement transitions, earns points under evidence. Implications score well when they build on what the person is already doing. Appropriate caution about mental health and referral is assessed under scope. APA citations and organization complete the rubric. Case studies that declare the person has lost all meaning, or that prescribe hobbies without reference to the framework, usually lose points.
Common HW420 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Meaning case studies often take a person's statement of lost purpose at face value and conclude that meaning is gone. Another weakness is explaining the framework well but applying it to the case in a sentence. Students frequently miss what the person is already doing that counts as a new source. Recommendations tend to be generic, such as volunteering, without fitting the person's skills. Signs that would warrant a referral are often ignored or overstated. If your case describes a loss and you are unsure how to apply the framework, list what the person did before and after the change, and our team can help you sort each source.
Get an HW420 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Forward the Unit 5 scenario unedited, since the analysis leans on the described person's own phrasing, plus the framework your prompt names and the rubric. Frankl, the three-facet model or another lens can organize it, and a referral paragraph is added if your section expects one. No fee applies to a first sample, and it is delivered within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HW420 Unit 5 questions, answered
Do I have to use Frankl?
Only if the prompt names him. Other lenses work: the coherence, purpose and significance facets from Unit 2, or a sources-of-meaning inventory. Choose one, attribute it accurately and apply it consistently across the case. Switching frameworks midway, or applying three of them lightly, tends to cost more than a single framework used with care.
How do I avoid diagnosing the person in the case?
Describe what the case shows instead of naming a condition. Early rising with nowhere to go and a remark about not knowing what he is for are observations; depression is a diagnosis that belongs to a clinician. Name the signs that would prompt a referral, and leave the conclusion to the professional who would receive it.
What if the case gives very little detail?
Work with what is there and say where the analysis is limited. A thin scenario can still support an avenue-by-avenue reading if each claim cites what the case states. Where you need to infer, mark it as an inference. Inventing background to fill the columns usually reads as exactly that, and graders notice.
Where can I find a free HW420 Unit 5 sample paper?
This page holds a complete Unit 5 meaning and purpose case study of a farmer after selling his herd, using Frankl's three sources, with margin notes and APA references.
What are Frankl's three sources of meaning?
Frankl described finding meaning through creating a work or doing a deed, through experiencing something or loving someone, and through the attitude one takes toward suffering that cannot be avoided.