There are many factors that keep premies involved, including peer pressure, but I am convinced that the major one is FEAR.  Rawat inclucated so much fear over the years (and still does), that it is the primary motivating factor that keeps people from breaking free or even doubting any of it, no matter how miserable they might be.

And of course, peer pressure is just really a form of fear -- fear of being rejected from the group, or being thought of in a negative light.

That's the feeling I get when I talk to premies.  A lot of hesitation and fear, especially from somebody like an ex-premie who no longer has that fear and also knows where a lot of the bodies are buried, and who know the mind tricks that Rawat has laid on them. 

Somebody like that  would frighten them into.....having a doubt, in other words, using their own rational abilities to evaluate whether something is good for them, or worth it, or  not.

And of course, when people get afraid, they also can get  very angry, as we have seen premies become about all this over the years.  It's very interesting to watch.