Abigail Crawford
SOC 203 (006)
Current Social Problems
2 Dec. 2025
Tremaine Winstead
In the movie, Baby Driver, the main character Baby loses both his parents at a young age in a car crash and becomes an orphan. Baby’s lack of family puts him into poverty which leads him to a life of crime and violence to make up for a debt he incurred by stealing cars. Baby became a getaway driver for heist crews and dangerously drove the roads to escape the police time and time again. Theoretically the meaning behind the destruction in Baby’s life can be described by the Conflict theory.
Growing up an orphan means that Baby doesn’t get the support that most kids receive from a young age: emotionally, physically, morally, and financially. Being an orphan automatically means that you are at a bigger disadvantage than other children and will most likely be a victim of poverty in childhood. “Roles of culture, power, social structure, and other factors largely out of control of the individual are the main forces which sociologists use to explain poverty,” (Smeeding 2002:2). Orphans become thrown into poverty and have worse health and education. Poverty throughout the movie is plain. Baby must steal cars to make ends meet and finds himself in the wrong crowd with debt to a dangerous person named Doc. Abebe dissects what it means to be an orphan in the present day and how poverty makes it harder for orphans to get the support they need. “Orphanhood is associated with varying degrees of vulnerability, the living circumstances and well-being of children who are marginalized by poverty in many low-resource communities are equally critical. Recent studies document how the consequences of being an orphan on a child’s well-being, schooling and health and leisure depend partly on economic resources and partly on how the culture treats children outside their maternal homes,” (Abebe 2009:74). According to Abebe, a child is more vulnerable if they don’t have the economic resources or treatment to support them. Baby’s financial insecurity at a young age was a result of being an orphan and his familial past. This caused him to fall into long-term poverty and motivated him to survive the only way he knew how: crime –which then led to violence. Orphanages and the foster system have many flaws, and it is easy for children to fall through the cracks. These resources are often understaffed and underfunded. “Looking specifically at age, we see children under 18 have the highest poverty rate, at 15.0%,” (Trevino 35). Of all ages, children are the most vulnerable to poverty. Not to mention the underfunding and lack of assistance that most foster families feel. Institutions are at full capacity and often don’t have the resources to support children either. Baby was set up for a world that couldn’t support him. Baby found himself in that 15.0% of poverty in children and must turn to crime to support himself.
All these flaws in the systems can be described by conflict theory and the abuse of privilege from those who don’t have the same insecurities. The Governments’ lack of funding and lack of support makes it less likely that children get the emotional and financial support they need. “Many of the poverty-related hurdles that biological orphans face, such as a lack of access to food, education, medical care and sanitation facilities, are also shared with children who might be called ‘social orphans’, i.e. children who have been abandoned mainly due to poverty,” (Abebe 2009:81). This allows for the continuation of food insecurity and financial insecurity not just for orphans, but also for all children. Children who have family but are poor, and children who have been abandoned by care takers.
While Baby fell into poverty at a young age he grew into a life of crime. He boosted cars until he fell into debt which led him to Doc who forced him to be a driver for crime heists. Baby participates in bank robberies, jewelry store raids, and other fast paced illegal driving to get away from the police. This life of crime wasn’t something that Baby felt fit him and he often stayed quiet in the presence of other dangerous criminals. It represents that Baby didn’t commit crime to make lots of money or because of greed but because he was poor and needed to pay off his debt. Those who are poor are more likely to commit crimes to make ends meet. This can also be linked to gang activities and how the poorest neighborhoods are often the most crime heavy ones (Trevino). These neighborhoods are often filled with graffiti and abandoned places as a symbol of their poverty. “Many poor neighborhoods have conditions of urban decay, with abandoned and severely neglected buildings, streets, and lots,” (Trevino 349). Often those who live in these neighborhoods are more susceptible to committing crimes because of poverty. Or young adults will join gangs to gain protection for their families, or a way to make money to keep themselves afloat. That leads to violence such as murder, burglary, rape, and shootings. In return there comes a higher police presence in these poorer neighborhoods. Keeping them in a continuous cycle of poverty, crime and violence, (Wilson 2021). There is also the notion that once you join a gang you cannot leave unless by death. Keeping those in a gang forever locked in a life of crime and jail sentences. This is like what Baby faces with Doc. Once Baby pays off his debt to Doc, he is threatened that he cannot leave because he knows too much and is Doc’s best driver. Doc threatens to harm those close to Baby if he decides to leave the life of crime. As well as throughout the movie there is a comparison of Baby to the other criminals in the movie. Baby is a good person and is often seen taking pity on those he hurts. He apologizes to grandma and returns her purse before stealing her car. As well as telling a bank teller not to come any farther in case she ends up in the crossfire of the other dangerous criminals. Ultimately though the end of the movie Baby has no choice but to shoot others and protect those he loves. A great representation of other poor kids in crime-infested areas. They may join these criminals or gangs and keep a good heart but at some point, they have to choose survival and to protect the ones they love. It’s a great depiction of what poverty can do for young adolescents who have no other way to survive and have been continually let down by the Government and institutions.
A main character Baby was in juxtaposition from is Bats, who enjoyed hurting others and didn’t hesitate to kill those who got in his way. Bats is a typical representation of those who fall into the life of crime for benefit, and not necessarily because of poverty. Or just someone who has accepted that they can no longer escape from life and are in too deep. His image hurts those who portray poverty crime, and do not have a choice in order to survive. Bats is a black man, is considered dangerous and crazy. Bat is supposed to be a representation of those who fall heavy into the life of crime. However, the position in the movie is racist and a terrible stereotypical view against people of color. This representation does more harm than good for a comparison between Baby a white male and Bats a black male. By allowing this depiction of Bats into the movie it emphasized negative stereotypes. Black people are at a disadvantage since birth. Because they are disadvantaged economically, socially, and are often victims of crime it makes sense to have people of color in the movie, (Massey 1990). However, the representation of Bats only provides a harmful viewpoint. Baby on the other hand is a white guy who, although does commit crime, is a good person at heart and hesitates to hurt anyone. “There is a direct correlation between the poverty and criminality [2-3 l. Becker’s economic theory of crime [‘] assumes that people resort to crime only if the costs of committing the crime are lower than the benefits gained. Those living in poverty, therefore, have a much greater chance of committing property crime [3-4] than the general population, as they stand to gain more with each crime. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson[s],” (Zhao, Feng, and Castillo-Chavez 2014:486). This is the type of crime that Baby commits. As he lives in poverty with a disabled foster dad who cannot work, he must support and pay off his debt to the dangerous Doc. Baby is a perfect example of poverty crime and the struggle in a society that has limited mobility for wealth. The depiction of poverty is a good representation as Baby lives in a broken-down apartment and is constantly surrounded by graffiti at the beginning of the movie. Overall, the movie aims to depict what it means to want more in life and be able to walk away from poverty that keeps you chained. To want to escape a life of crime but being unable to because you need money in a capitalist society to survive.
There are different ways presented in research that suggest how the problem of insecurity for orphans could be solved such as community care, entrance into distant familiar homes, or housing in institutions. However, these are underfunded and label orphans as burdens to those around them. Often orphans still don’t find support in these homes as they are more vulnerable to abuse, mistreatment by host families. “Social support programmes should not only be inclusive, but they also must support livelihoods, build assets and generate gainful income to lift families out of poverty using a rights-based perspective. In other words, the focus of external interventions should be to fight structural poverty and strengthen the capabilities of families’ resilience to orphanhood, rather than implanting resource-intensive approaches for a limited number of beneficiary orphans,” (Abebe 2009:82). By raising more money and support for resources and institutions can help struggling families and focus on supporting the most vulnerable children. The power of the government and the money held in the hands of the rich elite keep support away from children who struggle with poverty. If at a young age Baby had the support and financial security to survive there wouldn’t have been a movie at all as he most likely wouldn’t have fallen into crime and violence. Baby at heart is a kind person as he continues to help those around him, if he hadn’t made mistakes in his childhood to survive, he wouldn’t have had to resort to the actions he did. There are thousands of children around the world who have a similar story to Baby and live a life of crime because of poverty and insecurity in family systems. Baby is a great representation of how the Government and society, that was supposed to protect children, failed.
Conflict theory poverty and crime are related because of the Government and lack of support with resources, funding and institutions. However, it’s possible that the Government can find a perfect in-between to lower crime based on poverty. “It is known that the problem of crime is alleviated by either decreasing poverty [14l or by increasing the severity of the ensuing punishment[is]. Our model considers both intervention measures concomitantly. Logically, crime will decrease if one or the other intervention parameters is increased. However, because we seek a pragmatic solution in a world where resources are limited and cost is always a consideration, we cannot reduce crime by simply relieving all poverty or by incarcerating all criminals. Instead, we seek a cost-effective strategy to combat crime. Our model shows that the optimal solution is actually a combination of the two control measures and pinpoints where that optimal solution is,” (Zhao et al. 2014:487). By finding the balance we can eliminate the majority of crime by limiting poverty and finding the right amount of funding from the government to support those who are poor and entering a life of crime to support themselves. This supports the ideas behind conflict theory stating that the Government and institutions could fix this problem of poverty and crime by changing the way they balance money, punishments and incarceration. There is a deep root in how minority groups are related to family, crime, poverty and violence. There needs to be social change through better Government programs and allocation of funds to better equip children who struggle with poverty. Power, greed, and manipulation of the poor are all central themes in Baby Driver, as Baby fights to survive poverty, crime, and violence that stem from his upbringing and lack of family.
Works Cited
Abebe, Tatek. 2009. “Orphanhood, Poverty and the Care Dilemma: Review of Global Policy Trends.” Social Work & Society. 7(1):74-82. Retrieved November 26, 2025 (http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0009-11-20322).
Massey, Douglas S. 1990. “American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass.” American Journal of Sociology, 96(2). Retrieved November 26, 2025 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2781105).
Smeeding, Timothy M. 2002. “Sociology of Poverty.” Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper Series. 1(315):2. Retrieved November 26, 2025 (https://hdl.handle.net/10419/160987
econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/160987/1/lis-wps-315.pdf#page=13.23).
Trevino, Javier A. 2024. Investigating Social Problem. US: SAGE Publications, Inc., 4:35-349. Retrieved November 26, 2025 (https://ncsu.vitalsource.com/books/9781071917787).
Wilson, William J. 2012. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago,IL: The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved November 26, 2025 (https://books.google.com/books?id=N_tVVPXLfMIC&lpg=PR5&ots=gJobzjTcg2&dq=Wilson%20J%201987%20The%20Truly%20Disadvantaged%3A%20The%20Inner%20City%2C%20the%20Underclass%20and%20Public%20Policy.%20University%20of%20Chicago%20Press%2C%20Chicago%2C%20IL.%20&lr&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false).
Zhao, Haiyun, Zhilan Feng, and Carlos Castillo-Chavez. 2014. “The Dynamics of Poverty and Crime.” The Journal of Shanghai Normal University, 43(5):486-7. Retrieved November 26, 2025 (researchgate.net/profile/Carlos-Castillo-Chavez/publication/271135056_The_dynamics_of_poverty_and_crime/links/54be81db0cf218d4a16a7a8e/The-dynamics-of-poverty-and-crime.pdf).
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