FINLAND'S YOUNG OFFENDER ACT OF 1940 REFLECTED THE OPTIMISTIC TREATMENT IDEOLOGY OF THE TIMES, PROVIDING FOR THE SEPARATE, SPECIALIZED HANDLING OF OFFENDERS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 15 AND 21 YEARS. (YOUTHS UNDER AGE 15 WERE DEALT WITH BY CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM.) THE GENERAL IDEA WAS THAT A YOUNG PERSON'S OFFENSE ALWAYS WAS A SYMPTOM OF A PERSONALITY DISORDER THAT SHOULD BE CURED AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. THE SPECIAL TREATMENT AND LEGAL STATUS OF YOUNG OFFENDERS CAME INTO QUESTION DURING THE 1960'S AND 1970'S. CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON HIDDEN CRIMINALITY AND THE EFFECTS OF PRISONS HAD FOUND THAT AT A CERTAIN AGE IT WAS STATISTICALLY NORMAL, RATHER THAN DEVIANT, TO COMMIT AN OFFENSE, THAT YOUTHS SENTENCED TO INSTITUTIONS WERE PARTICULARLY LIKELY TO REPEAT THEIR OFFENSES, AND THAT IMPRISONMENT GENERALLY LESSENED RATHER THAN INCREASED THE LIKELIHOOD OF RESOCIALIZATION. THERE WAS ALSO CONCERN ABOUT THE NEED TO SEPARATE COERCION FROM TREATMENT AND ABOUT THE CUMULATION OF NEGATIVE SANCTIONS--PUNISHMENT, TREATMENT, ADMINISTRATIVE--THAT OFTEN RESULTED FROM A SINGLE OFFENSE. SUCH CONCERNS HAVE BEEN EMBODIED IN LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS THAT ESSENTIALLY RETURN THE YOUNG OFFENDER TO THE GENERAL PENAL SYSTEM, BRINGING THE REFORM FULL CYCLE. UNDER THE PROPOSALS, THE SEVERITY OF SANCTIONS ARE RELATED TO THE OFFENSE, NOT TO THE PERSONALITY OR SUPPOSED TREATMENT NEED OF THE OFFENDER. PUNITIVE ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM ARE AS MANIFEST AS POSSIBLE, AND TREATMENT IS CLEARLY VOLUNTARY. (LKM)