Summary

Certain social behaviors of marginalized social groups were considered illegal by the elites during the first half of the nineteenth century. In this way, it is possible to observe the emergence of a behavior that became considered criminal based on some actions that were usually seen as valid or lawful before. This study aims to demonstrate how the so-called ‘aparaguayamiento’ would correspond to one of these atavistic behaviors in social groups comprised by mainly peasants. We consider that this type of practice, during the time stated, was punished as cattle theft by the judicial system. As a result of this confrontation, a dialectics was established between traditional styles of living of popular groups and behaviors imposed by the hegemonic groups through law. Thus, the dialectics between criminality and legality was established.