I don't understand
Why men try to save hookers, strippers, junkies? Seemingly normal men marry hookers as well. I never understand that.
BTW there are so many people deserve to be saved.
I think for some it is because they remember the old adage, 'There but for the grace of god go I'.
Junkies, strippers, and prostitutes aren't demonic people.
In the case of junkies in particular, if you've never got hooked on a substance (and yes, cigarettes and booze count too) you can't really judge them with any real authority.
Some things are bigger or at least more powerful than anyone. Heroin is one of those things. It also happens to be perhaps the best high known to man. It's something you do a couple or three times and you wind up hooked. Junkies, if forced to choose, will choose heroin over food. That's not the sign of a terrible person, that's the symptom of someone who has stuck their foot in a trap from which they don't know how to escape.
I think people try to help others because they think to themselves that they would wish someone would help them if they were in a similar situation.
In the case of Mallory, she was just a girl. Not even grown. Doug had the desire to help her but most importantly, he had the means. He knew he could make a difference in her life and he did. And she made a difference in his.
That's what helping someone is all about. You get something in return.