The influence of rap music is everywhere, from Grammy winners OutKast and Beyonce to Baby Phat and Sean John clothing brands.

Search for "rap music" on Google, and you'll get more than 550,000 hits.

But can rap's influence extend to an individual's character and decisions, as one study suggests? Teens at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility say "no."

Most of the girls listen to rap daily and watch rap videos when they can. But none of them believes rap led to their dangerous or violent behavior.

They said other factors -- where they lived, their families, their background and their bad choices -- made them commit the acts that landed them in the juvenile system.

Most viewed rap music as a form of recreation and a way to relax "like when you got a roommate like me who gets on your nerves constantly," said Jasmin, 16, who, like the other girls, is referred to by her first name to preserve her privacy. "All I do is chill back and listen to my headphones. She be trying to ask me questions. I hear, but I just turn up the volume because it calms me down."

The girls -- all black -- also listen to rap music because it reflects the way they live or used to live. "We're all ghetto -- we come from the projects," explained Onesha, 19.

"Some rappers be talking about their life story, how they grew up, you know what I mean?, And some of the stuff we can just feel on it 'cause we done been through the same thing," added Sharvon, 18.

But when it comes to imitating what they see on the videos, the girls say the only things they copy are clothing and dance steps.

"Everybody wears Sean John or Fatboy," Sharvon said.

Iaisha, 18, agreed. "It's fun. For us females, we see the gear that they wear, the clothes that they wear, and if it's too hot, we can't buy it, you know, but we just like to look at it," she said.

They all agreed they like to watch how the artists dance. "I might want to use one of the moves one day," said Onesha.

Dance moves, relaxation and memories -- none of the girls says it influences them more than that.

"I just feel that you can only be easily influenced by that if you let yourself be influenced," said Ladrema, 18.

But they all are concerned about children being affected.

"If a little child was watching a video and they were cussing, maybe he'll start cussing and stuff," said Tameria, 16.

Children also might pick up on some of the gestures and sexist images, the girls said, referring in particular to rapper Too $hort as Mr. Disrespectful.

Neighborhood and environment are bigger factors than rap music, they agreed.

"You go to a city, you don't know nothing about this city, you get into some stuff. You're around people you don't know, and maybe you're trying to fit in, maybe you wanna be a new person, do something you ain't never did before," said Tijuana, 18.

"Some gang members, whatever, put peer pressure on (kids) to come and do this and that," Tameria added.

Unstable families and bad role models also put youths at risk. Iaisha said her life might have turned out differently if her parents had raised her.

"They could've took care of me rather than have my grandma take care of me. I'm still a strong-minded woman, but if I had my mama and my daddy there, then I'd be even better, you know, and I'd have more structure in my life, 'cause I never had it like that," she said.

Other girls said siblings -- especially brothers -- got them started on the wrong path.

"My brother's been to diversion, group home, youth centers, prison, jail," said Verynthia, 16. "My brother's done it all, and I followed him straight in his path 'cause we got the same birthday. I didn't fight because I heard the music. I'd fight because I knew my brother's gonna whoop (me) when I got home if I didn't fight," she said.

But in the end, the girls blame themselves for their choices.

"In my family, I'm probably like the first person being incarcerated -- well, beside my uncles. I did what I did on my own. I was fighting for what I wanted to do. I wasn't trying to respect authority," Tijuana said.

Rap may influence some teens' choices. But these girls say it had nothing to do with their actions.

"The (study says) basically that the music is influencing us to get in trouble, and we end up in correctional facilities like this," Jasmin summarized. "I really disagree with that because that don't have nothing to do with why we're in here. Our background may have something to do with it, or our tempers or something like that, but our tempers don't come from music. Music is just something to listen to in spare time."

ASSISTANT EDITOR : Camille Graves, 17.

REPORTER : Amber Gray, 13.