According to Marshal Jones is of the opinion that a social group is 'two or more people between whom there is an established patter of interaction'.
Characteristics of social group:
1. Collection of interacting individuals: Social groups consists of people. Social interaction is the very basis of group life, there more collection of individual does not make a group. The members must have interaction. A social group is, in fact, a system of social interaction. Different interaction patterns exists in different groups such as family, friendship, and recreational associations etc.
2. Sense of group unity and solidarity: Depending on the nature of the group, its members are tied together by a sense of unity. The solidarity or unity of a group is largely dependent upon the frequency, the variety, and the emotional quality of the interactions of its members. A friends group, or a peer group, or a professional association is highly united because its members are related by several common interests.
3. Group goals and interests: The interest and goal of a group are said to be common. Groups are mostly formed or established for the fulfillment of certain interests. In fact, men not join groups but also form groups for the realization of their objectives or interests. Forms of the group differ depending upon the interests of the groups, educational groups, professional groups, recreational groups and so on.
4. Groups are stronger than their individual members: A group is more than the sum of its parts. As Durkheim noted a group has a reality of its own or “suigeneris”. For example, the age and size of a group are not simple derived from the ages and sizes of its members. As Wallace and Wallace have pointed out. “Groups are generally stronger collectively than even the strongest individual members”.
5. Group Norms: Every group has its own rules or norms which the members are supposed to follow. These norms may be in the form of customs, folkways, mores, traditions, conventions, laws etc. They may be written or unwritten norms or standards. Every group has its own ways and means of correcting those who go against the rules. The continued groups-life of man practically becomes impossible without some norms.
6. Size of the Group: Every group involves an idea of size. Social groups vary in size. A group may be small as that of a dyad as big as that of a political party having lakhs of members. Size will have its own impact on the character of the group. Membership is limited or unlimited depending on its purpose.
7. Groups are Dynamic: Social groups are but dynamic. They are subject to changes whether slow or rapid. Old members *** and new members are born. Some existing groups may disintegrate and new groups may come to be formed. Small groups may develop into gigantic groups, and the larger ones may shrink in size.
8. Degree of Stability: Groups are formed to.be stable or unstable permanent or temporary in character. Some groups like, the crowd, mob, audience, spectators, groups etc. are purely temporary and unstable. But many groups such as political parties, student’* union, professional organizations and trade unions are relatively permanent and stable in character.
