Britney Spears has lost custody of her children.  Confucius, if asked by some cable TV guy, might say:

Duke Ching asked Confucius about governing, and Confucius said: "Ruler a ruler, minister a minister, father a father, son a son."

"How splendid!" exclaimed the Duke.  "Truly, if the ruler isn’t a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, and the son a son – then even if we had grain, how could we survive to eat it?" (12.11)

     It is not simply about governing; it’s about survival, social survival we might say.  And we could add: a mother must be a mother.  In other words, we all have to live up to our primary social duties or society will collapse.  You have to actually perform you obligations, not just claim the name "mother."  Until you clean up your act, Britney, the Sage would say you just aren’t a mom and taking the kids away is right.  On the other hand, Confucius certainly believed in rehabilitation.  So, if you do clean up your act, Britney, if you do carry out your parental duties, Confucius would say you can then have the kids back.