With all the sympathy for Shirley I have to say I feel sorry for Janine.
Her mum dies when she was a kid, and her Dad shacks up with Pat. Her dad is inept, has a breakdown and packs her off to live with her sister in Manchester. He then marries Peggy. When his marriage with Peggy breaks down he abandons Janine leaving her up shit creak homeless and she becomes a drug addict.
She goes through a string of relationships with older men (Daddy issues much) trying to con them for money before turning to prostitution. Ian Beale uses her services so she blackmail him. She is in love with Billy, but he fucks her over in favour of Little Mo. She marries Barry to try and get his money thinking he is ill whilst she's shagging Paul but Barry isn't as close to death door as she thought. Faced with the prospect of being Mrs Barry Evans she bumps him off like any sane person would!!!
She then gets wrongly charged with Laura Beales murder.
She returns for her fathers funeral and is pissed to learn there's no inheritance. So she marries an old geezer (2nd marriage) for his money, but he dies and leaves her homeless for a second time.
She accidentally kills someone in a hit and run but feels guilt for it.
Then she ends up sleeping with Ian again. So she blackmails him again - this time he's married to Jane. She trys to get the Vic but it backfires and she ends up accused of Archies murder.
She then admits she's in love with flatmate Ryan and marries him. Only to find he's sagged Stacey and his daughter is Lily. They then get together and Janine is so fucked up she stabs herself to frame Stacey.
Then she cares for her gshesrandmother hoping to get her money, only to find the money is going to charity, but she continues to care for her grandmother cos she loves her. Her grandmother says she wanted to take on Janine but Frank prevented it. Janine does actually eventually get the inheritance when her grandmother dies. She's accused of her murder all the same.
She gives Pat alone and makes peace with Pat before Pat cracks it. She then marries Michael Moon who tries to rip her off. She has a traumatic birth with scarlet. She murders Michael eventually following the financial abuse. David Wicks blackmails her. Alice (who was helping Michael Moon) tries to kill herself so Janine confesses to killing moon but is ultimately cleared of murder. But she's forced to leave Walford with a young baby.
She loses custody of Scarlet and it eventually comes out the Tommy is Scarlets brother.
Scarlet ends up with Kat and Janine is forced to lodge with one time client - Billy. But after trying to grift, Janine is kicked out.
The she starts the romance with Mick. Mick and Lynda both fuck her over - for all she does, they are still arses to her for mooning over each other. Janine needed stability and a good bloke which mick wasn't.
She's fucked over by her feckless dad, men who love other women constantly, forced into desperate measures to survive drugs and homelessness and despite all this and losing custody, scarlet is a good kid.
I kinda understand why she'd be insecure... And utterly fucked up and desperate for love.