Synopsis
The psychiatric status and social and family backgrounds of 154 schizophrenic patients were assessed in order to determine the degree to which interpersonal relations, social factors or the psychotic state itself were predominant factors in the promotion of hospitalization. It was found that the psychiatric status of the patient was the most important factor in determining admission to hospital. An unwarranted extrusion of a patient from a family setting was noted in very few cases, and this most often in the face of adverse effects of the patient's illness on the family.