[Vocabulary] Stage(d) an Intervention.

[Andromeda]

Hello, everyone!

Oxford Learner's Dictionary lists the following as one of the meanings of "Intervention":

1. an occasion when a group of people meet to take action with a friend or family member who has an addiction to drugs or alcohol, in order to help them recover.

Is "staging an intervention" a sociological term?

Thank you

 

[GoesStation]

Is "staging an intervention" a sociological term?

No. It's fairly everyday American English.

 

[teechar]

No. It's fairly everyday American English.

That's interesting. And does it specifically mean to help someone overcome an addiction?

 

[emsr2d2]

It's used in BrE too. It's the first step in trying to help someone overcome an addiction (or similar). It usually follows a lot of friends/family talking amongst themselves about how worried they are about an individual, usually one who seems to be unwilling/incapable of helping themselves. The friends/family then get together and visit the person (or invite them to something without letting them know the true agenda) and present a united front to convince the person that they need help. At its most drastic, it involves the family having the person forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility, or to rehab. Those would, of course, require the involvement of medical professionals as well.

 

[GoesStation]

That's interesting. And does it specifically mean to help someone overcome an addiction?

I first saw it in the context of escaping a cult.

 

[Skrej]

That's interesting. And does it specifically mean to help someone overcome an addiction?

That's probably the most common, but really it can be for any kind of self-destructive behavior. It makes it difficult for the person to dismiss the concerns as just somebody "overreacting" when it's an entire group of your closest friends and family telling you essentially the same thing at the same time, typically with specific examples. The goal is to make them realize or admit they have the problem.

 

[emsr2d2]

That's probably the most common, but really it can be for any kind of self-destructive behavior.

That's true. I realise that I should have included in my post things like helping someone escape an abusive relationship.