In her novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, author Heather O'Neill draws on themes of neglect and dependency to depict poignantly the baby's loss of innocence very early. age. Raised by a heroin addict father without stable housing, Baby finds himself drifting from foster family to foster family. She grows up without a responsible adult in her life and never experiences any form of love or security. As a result, she is forced to juggle her adult responsibilities and try to keep her mental health in check. O'Neil uses Baby's disturbing story to highlight the bitter truth of urban society, where poverty, education, and housing play important roles as social determinants of health. People living in poverty tend to engage in risky behaviors, such as drug use, which makes it more difficult to get a job and, therefore, find stable housing. By describing Baby's lack of moral values, premature loss of innocence, and inability to maintain lasting relationships, resulting from the absence of a parental figure and safe living conditions, O'Neill highlights the widespread problem in poverty-stricken urban areas. children with unmet needs that society is morally obligated to meet. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay O'Neill shows that baby is incapable of developing basic moral values, as well as the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. This is because her only role model, her father, is never there for her, neither physically nor emotionally. When Baby goes into prostitution with Alphonse, Jules resorts to verbal abuse, claiming that “[she] is a fucking liar and a whore” who “is only suitable for drug addicts” (O'Neill, 2006, p. . 156) instead of helping him through this difficult time (O'Neill, 2006, p. 156). He seems to ignore the fact that the only reason Baby is involved with Alphonse is because he's not there to tell him right from wrong. Her occasional use of foul language and absence from Baby's life are part of the reason she fails to develop a moral framework. Additionally, not only does Jules suffer from heroin addiction himself, but he frequently entertains his drug addict friends like Lester. They engage in adult conversations and are often under the influence of drugs in Baby's presence. Baby knows about their drug use and claims that "Jules and his friends had been calling chocolate milk heroin for years." She further recalls that her father "had red marks like mosquito bites on his arms, even in winter", and that she knew a lot about heroin as a child simply by "watching and listening » (O'Neill, 2006, p.10). Having grown up surrounded by drugs, Baby begins to think that drugs are acceptable. When Baby visits her father at the rehabilitation center, “[she] wishes she had taken drugs too” in order to bond with her own father (O'Neill, 2006, 71). It is this kind of careless and questionable behavior on the part of Jules and his friends that plays a large role in Baby's lack of morals later in life. Finally, Baby is raised in the "red light district" of downtown Montreal, surrounded by strip bars, drug dealers and prostitution. This is not a healthy environment to raise a child. She is exposed to "newspapers [that] featured strippers on the front page with their wrists cuffed and their breasts hanging out everywhere" (O'Neill,2006 p.5-6) ​​while she was walking down the street. She was told that if “[she] was raped after nine o'clock, the courts would probably say that [she] deserved it” (O'Neill, 2006 p. 155). Given the lack of basic moral values, Baby struggles later in life as she becomes involved in petty crimes, drugs, and prostitution. This is the sad reality for many families facing financial instability. According to episode 5 of The Raising of America, children can feel stress caused by financial problems and this stress has been shown to impact their genes during adolescence. This usually leads to anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses. This is highlighted in the novel when Baby states, “Jules made me so angry about him that I couldn't have lunch at school the next day” (O'Neill, 2016, p. 4). O'Neill attempts to shed light on these unmet needs of children in his novel. Overexposed to an environment of crime and drugs, Baby suffers a premature loss of her innocence and struggles to maintain lasting relationships later in life. From a young age, she began to idolize prostitutes because "they made [her] feel bad when [she] was little because they always wore nice high-heeled boots, while [she] had to wear ugly galoshes” (O’Neill, 2006, p.5). Baby also expresses her admiration for women on the streets and states that "the women she was most crazy about were the young drug addicts." They sat on the hoods of cars late at night, wearing white leather jackets with wide flaps and denim shorts. When they were high, they always smiled at [him]” (O’Neill, 2006 p. 243). As Jules is never present in his life, Baby always feels neglected. This is why when she meets Alphonse, her pimp, he manages to attract her with friendship and love. She thinks that “when Alphonse came into [her] life, it was strangely a bit like he was a mother figure” (O'Neill, 2006, p. 186). She is “desperate to belong to someone, no matter who” and Alphonse has filled this gap in her life (O'Neill, 2006 p. 207). As a young child without a moral compass and a sense of personal integrity, she simply accepts that “[she] was going to have to go for a ride” (O'Neill, 2006, p. 215). Alphonse takes her virginity, takes heroin with her and makes her one of his prostitutes. She demonstrates addictive behavior when "she continued to get high" with Alphonse instead of going home. (O’Neill, 2006, p. 286). Her statement that "when [you] are young, gender doesn't matter as much" shows that she does not fully understand the concepts of self-esteem and respect. Her lackadaisical acceptance of sex and self-destructive behavior prove how her upbringing in a dangerous environment leads to a loss of innocence at a young age. O'Neill shows how difficult it can be to grow up and become a woman in the modern world. society, especially for Baby, who is all alone and has very little understanding of how to go about it. She shows signs of distress in terms of her personal integrity and her own self-esteem as she struggles to accept her character. Additionally, with exposure to the adult world, Baby begins to display criminal and destructive behavior which contributes to his struggle with the adult world. lack of moral compass. Growing up in several different foster homes, Baby befriends many people who are bad influences on her. O'Neill first shows how Theo, an outcast, is a bad influence on Baby as he tricks him into vandalizing and stealing things from Baby's house.,.