The abusers really can go from threatening a six year old with what sounds like credible threats to making the adults laugh within seconds without any visible whiplash.
And the will to deny is extremely strong; to believe the child one has to revamp one's beliefs about society in a large and risky direction.
They genuinely believe that everything is justified; even if they hide what they are doing from public view. "I do this because I care about you, other parents would have given up a long time ago". The hiding is also blamed on the child, claiming that he or she is the one that would destroy their reputation if words got out of what he or she did and what the extend of what the parents had to do to "remedy" the situation.
And the will to deny is extremely strong; to believe the child one has to revamp one's beliefs about society in a large and risky direction.