Hoops Group: Group Work with Young "Street" Men

This paper presents the "hoops group," a basketball group for young "street" men. The purpose of this presentation is: (1) to further the discussion of services developed for group empowerment for homeless persons, (2) to present a case example of services to this population, and (3) to further the conceptualization using McGrath's (1991) construct of group functions. This article maintains that groups developed around activities in which individuals feel competence (in this case, playing basketball) are ideal in developing a collective identity and facilitating therapeutic gains.