SUBJECTS WERE 500 PERSONS DISCHARGED FROM THE WAKE COUNTY, N.C., STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL. DEVIANCE WAS MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN THE COUNTY, AND ARRESTS WERE CATEGORIZED AS ASSAULTIVE CRIMES (MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER, FORCIBLE RAPE, ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, AND SIMPLE ASSAULT), MAJOR CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY (BURGLARY, LARCENY, BREAKING AND ENTERING, AND AUTO THEFT), ALCOHOL-RELATED CRIMES, TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, AND OTHER OFFENSES. CONVICTIONS FOR ARRESTS, THE SECOND MEASURE OF DEVIANCE, WERE DICHOTOMIZED INTO CONVICTIONS FOR ASSAULTIVE AND NONASSAULTIVE OFFENSES. ARRESTS AND CONVICTIONS WERE EXAMINED FOR THE YEARS 1968 TO 1972. DATA WERE ALSO COLLECTED FROM SUBJECTS' HOSPITAL AND ARREST RECORDS. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF DATA INDICATES THAT MENTAL PATIENTS DISCHARGED FROM THE HOSPITAL ARE MOST FREQUENTLY ARRESTED FOR ALCOHOL-RELATED CRIMES AND TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS. MENTAL PATIENTS ARE CHARGED WITH A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES, ESPECIALLY ASSAULT, BUT ARE NOT OFTEN CHARGED WITH PROPERTY CRIMES AND OTHER TYPES OF OFFENSES. THE GREATEST NUMBER OF ARRESTS OCCUR IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER DISCHARGE FROM THE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, SUGGESTING THAT THIS IS A CRITICAL PERIOD FOR EX-PATIENTS. THE GRAVITY OF THE PROBLEM OF DEVIANCE IN PATIENTS IS EXAMINED BY COMPARING THE SUBJECTS' ARREST RATES WITH THOSE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION. PATIENTS HAVE AN ARREST RATE IN ALL CRIME CATEGORIES THAT IS FIVE TIMES GREATER THAN THAT FOR THE GENERAL POPULATION OF THE COUNTY, BUT EQUAL TO THAT OF BLACK MALES (THE COUNTY'S SUBPOPULATION WITH THE HIGHEST ARREST RATE). ARREST RATES FOR DISCHARGED FORENSIC PATIENTS WERE PARTICULARLY HIGH. THE BEST PREDICTORS OF DEVIANCE ARE PREVIOUS ASSAULT RECORD, INADEQUATE EDUCATION, NUMBER OF ARRESTS, AND NUMBER OF PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATIONS. FURTHER FINDINGS, TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS, TABULAR DATA, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)