However, children who are incest victims almost always say and believe and even write down statements like those found in Danielle's diary. They're made to believe they are being raped because they are bad. They tiptoe around the assaulting parent trying to get on good side 24/7...what else can they do?
I edited book by a rather famous incest survivor, whose father started raping her on her first day of school, and she told me she spent her childhood working very hard at being a perfect little child. The foundation she started for incest victims found that they almost all shared this quality. "Please forgive me, I'll be better...." With parents like Brenda and Damon, it's not a huge leap to associate Danielle's writings with child rape.