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This article shows that non-compliance with the law does not necessary create disorder, criminality or a gap between the law and social practices. Indeed, disobedience is not an isolated and exceptional event leading to penal or disciplinary measure. In South America, non-compliance can be understood as a socially accepted and functional behavior, based on the type of sociability in place. Understanding this culture of disobedience implies to look at the incompatibility between the rules on the one hand, and the moral and social norms, which influence individual behaviors, on the other hand. To sustain this thesis, the author develops a typology of disobedient mentalities and an analysis of the contexts in which people disobey.