Toxicity and the Unconscious Experience of the Body at the Employee—Customer Interface
提出“毒性”这一新概念，描述一线服务员工在顾客压力下可能产生的无意识幻想，即被有毒物质污染，进而导致关系恶化和报复行为，对理解服务工作中的负面体验有启发。
While the literature on front-line service work utilizes a variety of productive images, I argue that these images do not capture certain of the more problematic experiences of front-line service employees. Drawing on words used by these workers themselves, and using concepts from psychoanalysis and its application to organizational dynamics, I therefore propose a new image, that of toxicity. I argue that — especially when under severe pressure from customers — front-line workers may have the unconscious fantasy that they have been polluted by toxic substances. The unconscious experience of the entry of toxic material is likely to result in further contagion of relationships such as those among employees and between employees and customers. This may also result in workers retaliating against customers by exacting revenge on them. A downward spiralling of relationships may follow, with the result that large parts of the work environment are experienced as toxic. The implications for theory are explored. In conclusion, I argue that the theme of toxicity helps us connect the employee—customer interface with a deep reservoir of primordial human experience that links the body with emotions.