Fish Tank - how is it typical of it's genre?

Social realism is a genre that represents real life and all of it's difficulties. The film Fish Tank portrays this is many ways. It is shown through the realistic settings, realistic events and situations, believable film technique, economic hardship, life struggles, gritty style and urban locations. 
A scene that shows some of these conventions is when Mia is at the caravan park trying to set the horse free. This clearly shows economic hardship through the urban location as it is shown as very run down and dirty. The people there are also not very well kept and are very protective over their land as it is all they have. The horse that they keep there also portrays a struggle as this horse is tied up, and looks very weak, frail and helpless. This could also foreshadow what will happen to Mia, as although she is not physically tied up, she is very trapped in an underclass lifestyle and is quite helpless. Although she may want to escape this lifestyle it will stay the same for her all through her life. 
Another convention of social realism is that it represents real life, and mainly focuses on urban issues and environments. In Fish Tank, the way this is shown is through a few different ways. For example, their obvious money struggles, shown through Mia mainly. Stealing money from Connor's wallet, going to his work and asking him for money and telling him she has no money when he takes her to the train station which results in him giving her some. It seems that Connor is financially stable, made even more clear towards the end of the film when Mia visits his house. Another way it is shown is through the characters unstable relationships, mainly between Mia and her mother. The way Mia is represented in the film could be shown in a negative way as that is the way her mother has brought her up and treated her. Her mother could also have been treated this way by her mother which is why she is that way, and it will probably carry on to Mia's children, which is why they will never escape the underclass lifestyle.