Abstract: This study considers the influence of legal status, interactive processes, and mediating factors upon patient perception of coercion, within the context of admission to mental health services in New Zealand. The admission experiences of 69 involuntary inpatient psychiatric admissions and 69 informal admissions are compared using the MacArthur Admission Experience Survey. The influence of demographic, clinical and situational variables on the experience are considered. The results indicate there is a strong significant difference in the perception of coercion between involuntary and informal patients, with legal status having predictive value in relation to patient perception of coercion. Patient perception of procedural justice is strongly negatively correlated with perception of coercion. Perception of negative interactive processes is strongly felt by involuntary patients. This experience is not fully explained by identifiable incidents throughout the admission process. In the New Zealand context, there remains a need to highlight the aspects of procedural justice which could be improved in order to reduce patient perception of coercion. Current methodology focuses on the experience of admission rather than the expectation of that experience. This point needs to be considered in relation to the experience of Maori (the indigenous people of New Zealand)