THE STUDY COMPARED TWO GROUPS OF FIRST-TIME DETAINEES: 82 DETAINED UNDER THE JUVENILE COURT'S 30-DAY DISPOSITIONAL POLICY; AND 86 HELD UNDER A 90-DAY DISPOSITIONAL POLICY. FOR BOTH GROUPS, RETURN REFERRALS WERE RECORDED OVER A 6-MONTH PERIOD. A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE DETENTION PERIOD (TIME BETWEEN DETENTION AND RELEASE) AND RATE OF RETURN REFERRALS. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DISPOSITIONAL PERIOD (TIME BETWEEN FINDING OF GUILT AND DISPOSITION HEARING) AND RATE OF RETURN REFERRALS. FOR ALL FIRST-TIME DETAINEES, BUT SPECIFICALLY FOR NONWHITE, NONDELINQUENT, MALE NONDELINQUENT, AND NONWHITE NONDELINQUENT DETAINEES, A LONGER PERIOD OF DETENTION REDUCED THE LIKELIHOOD OF A RETURN REFERRAL. THE POSSIBILITY THAT VARIABLES OTHER THAN THE AMOUNT OF TIME IN DETENTION--SUCH AS HOW AND WHERE THE TIME WAS SPENT--MAY ACCOUNT FOR THE FINDINGS IS RAISED. ADDITIONAL STUDIES ENCOMPASSING LARGER SAMPLES, LONGER PERIODS OF TIME, AND DATA ON SPECIFIC TYPES OF RETURN REFERRALS ARE RECOMMENDED. A DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC AND OFFENSE ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY POPULATION, WITH SUPPORTING TABULAR DATA, IS PROVIDED.