The arrests and admissions of a random sample of patients were recorded during a 6-month period, and the circumstances surrounding each of the episodes were examined. Criminal and psychiatric histories were also obtained along with patients' self-reports of violence and victimization experiences. Although relatively few of the patients were arrested during the reference period, a number of those who were arrested had serious criminal records. Patient arrestees were more likely than nonarrestees to be hospitalized in the followup period and to have more previous psychiatric admissions overall. (Publisher abstract)