Resocialization as a lens to understanding workplace reentry transitions: An integrative conceptual review

Workplace reentry affects millions of workers annually, with over 15 million Americans supported by the Family and Medical Leave Act in 2024 alone. Yet research remains fragmented across contexts and lacks theoretical coherence. This integrative conceptual review synthesizes 264 articles spanning diverse reentry contexts following career breaks or leaves of absence, including family, medical, military redeployment, unemployment, retirement, sabbaticals, expatriation, and incarceration. We develop a unified theoretical framework grounded in resocialization theory that addresses the unique complexity of workplace reentry, where individuals must simultaneously unlearn outdated information, update existing knowledge, and navigate changed relationships while managing their dual insider-outsider status-processes fundamentally different from newcomer socialization. Our framework includes a five-stage recursive process: anticipatory resocialization, encountering, coping, assimilating, and evaluation. Four contextual factors-societal expectations, workplace practices, professional resources, and personal circumstances-influence all stages. We provide a comprehensive research agenda emphasizing stage-specific priorities while also noting important methodological challenges and opportunities. As the workforce becomes increasingly diverse and work-life integration more complex, understanding workplace reentry transitions is essential for advancing research and practice in the hopes of influencing organizational success and individual well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).