Justice as Both Personal and Structural

Sor Juana's engagement with justice was dual: she examined her own moral accountability while also critiquing the unjust structures that constrained her and others. She understood that personal responsibility and structural critique are not contradictory but complementary. In recovery, this framework prevents the false dichotomy where individuals either deny responsibility ('society made me use') or absorb all blame ('I am fundamentally broken'). True recovery identity acknowledges both: the personal choices, behaviors, and accountability required for change, and the systemic factors—poverty, trauma, racism, gender oppression, lack of access to treatment—that shape addiction's emergence and persistence. An addict may be fully accountable for their recovery actions while also recognizing that the deck was unfairly stacked. Sor Juana's example teaches that demanding justice—for oneself and others—is compatible with personal integrity and growth. Recovery becomes not just individual triumph but also an assertion of rights and dignity within unjust systems, and a commitment to understanding and addressing the conditions that generate addiction and prevent healing.