Miriam Van Waters, superintendent of the Framingham Reformatory for Women, said yesterday that juvenile delinquents must be treated with understanding, not punished for their misconduct.

In a talk before 200 persons in Emerson D, Dr. Van Waters said that "intelligent treatment" of juvenile delinquently tried of integrate them into a place is society rather than merely putting them away.

She traced the handling of juvenile delinquents from the days of the family courts especially for the young, up to today. In her speech, she described the conditions at her reformatory which she said was one of the oldest but one of the "most progressive."

Dr. Van Waters stressed the difficulty her inmates have in readjusting to freedom, mentioning the frequent reluctance of a family to accept back a daughter..