Ah... There's someone in our unit who's kinda like that, too. He tries really hard to protect us but doesn't seem to understand how his actions affect others. He also believes that he's bad by nature, and therefore has less value than the rest of us. He thinks it doesn't matter if he gets hurt. It's really frustrating.

In Santa's case... maybe she's not used to being cared about, so she doesn't recognize it when she sees it...?