This article examines the factors influencing desistance from crime among serious adolescent female delinquents and their male counterparts. It challenges the traditional social control theory, which emphasizes marital attachment and job stability as key factors for male desistance, by analyzing data from a detailed long-term follow-up study. The authors develop a symbolic-interactionist perspective, focusing on cognitive shifts and the actor's role in shaping their own life trajectory. They argue that cognitive transformations, including shifts in openness to change, exposure to "hooks for change," identity transformation, and a change in the perception of deviant behavior, are crucial for desistance. The study also considers the impact of race/ethnicity and historical context on desistance processes. The findings suggest that while marital attachment and job stability are important, they are not as strongly related to female or male desistance as previously thought. The authors propose a theory of cognitive transformation, which is compatible with social control but adds specificity to the underlying mechanisms of change.This article examines the factors influencing desistance from crime among serious adolescent female delinquents and their male counterparts. It challenges the traditional social control theory, which emphasizes marital attachment and job stability as key factors for male desistance, by analyzing data from a detailed long-term follow-up study. The authors develop a symbolic-interactionist perspective, focusing on cognitive shifts and the actor's role in shaping their own life trajectory. They argue that cognitive transformations, including shifts in openness to change, exposure to "hooks for change," identity transformation, and a change in the perception of deviant behavior, are crucial for desistance. The study also considers the impact of race/ethnicity and historical context on desistance processes. The findings suggest that while marital attachment and job stability are important, they are not as strongly related to female or male desistance as previously thought. The authors propose a theory of cognitive transformation, which is compatible with social control but adds specificity to the underlying mechanisms of change.