As more women are brought into the criminal justice system for crimes related to drug use, it is necessary to understand how the unique position of addicted female offenders may affect their successful participation in conventional drug treatment programs. Using data from a prison-based therapeutic community called CREST, serving male and female offenders in Delaware, this study compared the ability of female treatment program participants (test group) and work release participants (control group) to form networks of support and stability once released from prison. Additionally, the study examined the influence of systems of support on rates of recidivism or returning to drug use. The study found that although the CREST program has proved to be effective at reducing both recidivism and relapse for offenders in general, it was found that the program failed to reduce either recidivism or relapse significantly for female offenders. It is important to conduct further research to determine whey CREST and the therapeutic community model in general is apparently less effective for women than for men after release. 8 tables and 67 references